Forever and After
by Penguins.Are.Lovely
Summary: After Edward leaves, Bella goes to the Volturi. She finds love in one that she is supposed to fear.
1. Chapter 1

Flashback

_Edward and the rest of the Cullen's were absent from school today due to the nice weather. I saw that there was a note on my bed asking me to meet Edward in the woods. I put my stuff on the bed and headed out to the woods behind the house. I quickly spotted Edward._

"_Hey." He greeted me with a kiss. But it wasn't like the others. This was filled with sorrow, pain, regret._

"_Bella, we're leaving. And I mean myself and my family. It's the end now."_

"_What? Y-y-you can't. No, not with out me."_

"_We have no choice. We've been here too long as it is."_

"_Too long? Its only been three years. It's about what happened at my party, isn't it? Edward, that was nothing."_

"_But it could've been something. I almost got you killed again."_

"_It's not your fault. Its nobody's fault. Jasper wasn't only feeling his own bloodlust. It was everyone else's too that he was feeling."_

"_Yes it is entirely my fault. I shouldn't have put you in danger at all. It was a mistake being with you. I'm so sorry."_

"_I'm going with you." I said with force in my tone, hoping that he would give in._

"_No you are not." He said with more force. "It's far too dangerous for you. I have put you in too much danger. Honestly, I am surprised you have held up so well. I am not right for you. You need to find a human to fall in love with."_

"_I don't want anyone but you, Edward. Nobody else is good for me."_

"_Yes there are. There are others far better for you than I am. Bella, I do _not _want you."_

"_Edward, please. Don't leave."_

"_I have to. The rest of us are already gone. I wont interfere with your life again. Goodbye."_

_And with that, he left._

End flashback

I couldn't help the tears running down my face as the memory came back to me so clearly as if the past two months had only been two days. The depression from the past two months was hurting Charlie and Renee. I couldn't put them through more.

I finally decided it was time. I took a quick shower and changed into shorts, a Hollister shirt and tennis shoes. I packed a bag containing only a few clothes and some necessities and wrote a note for Charlie.

_Charlie,_

_I left. Please, if you love me you wont come looking for me. And please don't blame the Cullen's. It's not their fault. Not even Edward's. This all on me, all my choice. I can say that I will not be in the States anymore. I cannot guarantee that we will see each other again. I would hate to get your hopes up. But if all goes well, it will be a better life for me. Not that you and Renee haven't already given me a good life. And I know that it may seem selfish, but it's what I want._

_Love, Bella_

After grabbing my passport, I headed to the bank and got out my college fund knowing I wouldn't need it any longer. I booked a flight to Italy and still had a few hundred dollars left over.

During the flight I was thinking of ways to approach the Volturi. I was hoping for death. I didn't want to live in a world where _he _wasn't in it. And if death was not given to me, then I would want immortality. It was the only thing he wouldn't give me. If it was offered, I would take it gladly. Sure I would still be living in the world without him, but I would have what I wanted, the only thing I asked for, and he couldn't do anything about it. I would join the Volturi, surviving off of primarily human blood. I knew this went against all that I had was taught, about the value of the human life, but I would be living with these vampires. And I am sure that I would have adapt to their lifestyle. As the plane started to descend, I started to get nervous about what was to come in the next few hours.

I got off the plane and headed to luggage claim. I walked out of the airport and got a cab. The nerves were starting to kick in and when we arrived in front of the castle, I knew fate was either going with me or against me. If it went with me, I would have immortality. If it went against me, I would have the physical death. But it would be death without what I wanted most. Either way, I would be dead. The Volturi would say that I knew too much about them. Carlisle said that humans who knew about vampires and had meet the Volturi were offered death or immortality. Most likely, I would be offered those two choices as well. And I already knew which I would pick.


	2. Chapter 2

I paid the taxi driver and headed up the long drive to the castle. I was greeted by the human secretary and I told her that I would like to speak to Aro. A young looking blonde woman came into the room and motioned for me to follow her.

We walked into a room where we were greeted by three men sitting in thrones. I assumed they were Aro, Marcus and Caius.

"Ah. And who do we have here? A human? This is quite a surprise!" The younger looking one with black hair said. I think that was Aro. "And what brings you here today Miss?"

"I want death." I said a little unsure of how to say it.

"So it is death that you are asking for? Hm. May I read your thoughts?" He asked politely and held out his hand. I hesitantly placed my hand in his and he closed his eyes. After a moment, he looked at me with a puzzled expression. "It appears that I cannot read your thoughts. How interesting. And why do you wish for death?" He asked interested in what I would have to say.

"I was dating Edward Cullen for a few months. And something happened and he left me. I've been so depressed since then. It was hurting my dad and my friends to see me like that. And my mother was hurting because she wasn't there to help console me. I just couldn't watch them all suffer because of me."

"Ah. Carlisle and I have been great friends for centuries now. And may I ask what happened?"

"It was my birthday. And Alice had to throw me a party, which I didn't even want. I was opening a gift and got a paper cut. Jasper tried to attack me and Edward felt guilty for putting me in such danger being with him. So he and the rest of the family left."

"The counsel and I shall discuss what we will do." He nodded and turned the other way.

Aro walked back to his throne along with the others. They spoke to low for humans to hear. I was a little worried at what they might say. After a few moments, Aro turned to me and spoke.

"We believe that you may contain a power that may be useful to the Volturi guard. And so we ask that you join us." Aro said with a smile on his face.

I said yes of course, not caring about what _they _would say or think.

"Marvelous! By the way, I am Aro. And this is Marcus and Caius. We make up the counsel as well as the wives. And then of course there is the Guard. Alec, Jane, Felix, Demetri and others as well. When would you like to be changed? And I don't believe we caught your name."

"Isabella. Or just Bella. And I would like to be changed as soon as possible."

"Very well. You will be changed in a week. And a ball will be held three days after the transformation is completed. Jane will take you shopping as I see you have minimal bags. Alec will be appointed as your guard."

Then a man with short brown hair and pale white skin came in. His eyes were a bright red and I thought I found the most handsomest man in the world.

"Alec, this is Bella. She has decided to join our coven and will be changed in a week. You have been appointed as her guard. Will you please show her to her room and then have Jane take her shopping."

"Yes father." He took my bag and showed me to my room.

It was all black and white, with a big queen sized bed in the middle. It was perfect. The room was very spacious and had a large bathroom attached to it. There was also a big closet that I hung the few clothes that I had in.

Alec left me to settle in, telling me that he was going to get Jane so she could take me shopping.

"Hi Bella. I'm Jane." Said the same girl that took me to meet the counsel. "I can't wait for you to be my new sister."

We started to make our way out of the castle and Aro stopped us.

"Jane, Bella will need the proper attire for the ball. And also the proper attire for guest visits and other special occasions. Along with her other clothing."

"Yes father." She replied.

She led me to the garage and told me to get into the red Porsche 911 Turbo and we headed to the mall. She was very excited. Probably worse than Alice. This was going to be a long shopping trip.


	3. Chapter 3

"Jane, why did you call Aro your father?"

"We all have ties. Marcus will tell you your ties at the ball. But basically, Aro is like my father and Marcus and Caius my uncles. Same as with Alec since we have blood ties."

"So, Alec is a blood relative?" "Yes. He's my brother."

We pulled into the mall and started shopping. I had pulled out a few dresses, some shoes, tops, jewelry and a few other things. I didn't even want to think about the bill.

When we arrived back at the castle, two men were waiting for us to take our bags. Jane greeted the bigger one with a kiss on the cheek and said, "Hi Felix."

"Hey." He said with a smile and gave her a small kiss on the lips. Aw. How sweet.

I was a little bit tired after the long day of arriving in Volterra and then having to go shopping and try on hundreds of clothes. Literally. So I decided to take a shower and lounge around my room.

I was laying on my bed reading a book when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." I said.

"Hey. Do you need anything?" Alec stepped in.

I was about to say no when my stomach told me otherwise.

I smiled. "Yeah. I'm kind of hungry actually."

"Ok. I'll take you out if that's ok with you, of course."

"Perfect."

"Why don't you get ready. And I need to change out of my work clothes. I'll meet you here in ten minutes."

" Ok." I smiled and he walked out the door. I quickly got dressed into a purple shirt, some holey jeans and black flats. Yes, my fashion sense has improved. He came to my door and he was wearing a blue American Eagle shirt, jeans and black Nike's.

We walked into the garage to get into his black Porsche 911 Turbo and we went to a little restaurant outside of Volterra. Alec, of course, did not eat.

"So, is this part of your job? Taking me out to eat. Or is this a date?" I asked.

"If you want it to be a date, then yeah I guess it is." He smiled a cute smile. I almost melted in it.

"Ok. Well, I would like to believe it as a date."

"Then a date it shall be."

I finished my food and we went back out to the car. But instead of going back to Volterra, we turned another way and made our way to a gelato shop. I got chocolate and we sat down at one of the tables.

"So, what does chocolate taste like?" He asked with curiosity in his voice.

"Um. I don't know how to describe it. Um. Chocolaty?"

He laughed with that. "Could I have a taste?"

Ha! I thought. This was going to be good. I held the spoon out to him and he quickly took a bite. I really don't think he liked it.

"Yuck! That tasted horrible!"

I couldn't help but giggle at his reaction. We sat and talked and laughed for the rest of the time that we were at the gelato place. And we laughed the whole way back to the castle.

**Alec POV**

I led Bella back to her room and headed back to my room. Felix was sitting on my bed.

"Hey! It's about time you found someone. Now you wont sulk around like a little depressed vampire."

"Felix, she is not my mate. Not yet at least. I just took her out on a date."

"Oh so it was a date. Wow. I cant wait to hear her ties to you." And then he exited my room.

I sat there thinking about all that happened tonight. She said it was a date. And a date it was. Did that mean she wanted something more than just me being her guard? Well I hope so. There is just something so attractive about her. She is beautiful, and I'm sure she will be even more beautiful once she is changed. But she's also so confident even after she just got out of a relationship that she thought was perfect and would last forever. I wonder what happened. I only asked why she wanted to join the Volturi. She was on the verge of tears when she said that Edward and the rest of the family left her. After that I decided not to go further with the conversation.

I felt something more for her. Something I hadn't felt in forever. I wondered if she felt the same way about me. I wonder what her ties to me will be.

**Bella POV**

Well, that was pretty much amazing. It was fun. I kind of like him. I mean, there's just something about him. Something I've never felt with Edward. With him, it was like I was always in a cell locked from the outside and I couldn't be free. But with Alec, I was able to break free from my cell and be a normal human girl. Sure he was my guard. And he made a clear point that he would protect me at all cost, but he wasn't going to be over-protective and break my every fall. He was going to let me be human for the rest of the time that I had. It was going to be a nice change.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bella POV**

Its been two days since my arrival here at Volterra and already I have made friends with Jane, Felix, Demetri, Alec and a few others as well. Alec was taking me out to eat again tonight considering it would be my last chance at eating out. There was a kitchen here since Chelsea and Afton had a human daughter, Ariana, and she came here a lot.

Alec and I were in the car on the way to Venice. We had come close the past few days.

"Bella, can I ask you something?" Alec asked.

"Yeah. Of course. What is it?"

"How do you feel about me?" I was shocked by his question. What do I say? The truth? What if he doesn't feel the same way about me? Well, I suppose the truth is better than nothing.

He looked at me waiting for my answer. "Well, I mean, I know that we've only known each other for a few days. But, I really like you." I felt the blood rush to my cheeks.

He smiled at the sight of my blush. "Really? Because I do too. Since I laid eyes on you. I just felt this strange attraction to you that I hadn't felt before."

"Yeah me too. I mean even with Edward I didn't feel anything that I feel with you."

"Yeah I think I could tell. I mean, you are so much different now than you were with him. It's almost like you don't care for him at all anymore."

"I don't. Not after what he did to me. He left me in the most rudest way ever. And then left me in the woods. For the two months before I came here I was so depressed and it was hurting my parents seeing me like that. And that's when I decided to come here. I'm over him now."

"Bella, I'm so sorry for what he did to you. You don't deserve that. You are so much better than that." He gave me an apologetic smile.

"So, where does that leave us?"

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" He asked shyly.

I smiled back. "Yes. I would love to be your girlfriend."

After dinner Alec led me back to my room and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was so sweet. He left then back to his room.

"Good night Bella."

"Good night Alec."

A few minutes later my door busted open and Jane ran in and started jumping on my bed. She was very excited to say the least.

"Bella! Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! You're dating Alec! Ahhhhhhh!"

"Jane, calm down. Everyone's is going to hear you."

"Oh don't worry Bella. Everyone already knows. Aro touched Alec's hand by accident and saw what happened."

"Oh. Ok."

"So…..how was it?"

"How was what?"

"You're first date. Duh!"

"Well, technically it wasn't our first."

"What do you mean?" She asked confused.

"Well, on my first night here when he took me out to eat, I asked if it was a date. And he said that it was up to me. So I said that I wanted to think of it as a date and so it was a date."

"Oh. I see now. Wow Bella! I can't wait for you to officially be my sister! Who do you want to change you?"

I sat there for a moment thinking about it. I hadn't thought about it before.

"I don't know Jane. I haven't thought about it."

"Oh. Well really the only people that probably could would be me or Alec. Because I don't think anyone else would have the strength to."

_Alec. _I thought. Don't get me wrong, I love Jane. And I think she will be the best sister ever, but there's just something about his venom, _Alec's _venom, going through my blood stream and transforming me.

"Jane, I do love you. But, I think I want Alec to change me."

"Ok Bella. That would be wonderful." She gave me a big grin and left me to sleep.

**Jane POV**

Finally my brother found someone. Now he can stop moping around saying that he is so lonely. Him and Bella will make a perfect couple. Speaking of couples, I wonder where Felix ran off to. Then I heard Felix and Demetri yelling at each other. _Game room. Of course._ I thought.

When I walked in, they were yelling at each other. I looked to see what they were playing. Football. Of course.

"Boys! It's a stupid video game! It's not the NFL!" They both shot me a glare and turned back to fighting. I sighed and watched as they continued the game.

"Wooooohoooooo! I told you I would win Felix!" Dem was, at this point, dancing around the room. Felix came over and sat by me with a frown on his face.

"Felix, it's a game. And besides, you would beat him if it were an actual game."

"Yeah. I know I would." He gave me a kiss on the lips and then we exited to our room.

**Alec POV**

"Good night Bella."

"Good night Alec." I gave her a kiss on the cheek and left her to herself.

I went into the throne room to start my shift on guard. Felix and Demetri were on guard from the other shift and they left to the game room I would assume.

Aro came into the room and accidentally brushed against my hand. Then he stopped with an amused expression on his face.

"Really? Is it true that you are dating Isabella now?"

"Yes father it is." I said with a smile. Thinking back at the night had made me so happy.

"Very well. It is good that you have found someone my dear son. I approve of your choice."

"Thank you father."

Then Jane, just coming off of her shift, got her excited face on and ran.

"Bella! Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! You're dating Alec! Ahhhhhhh!" Jane screamed excitedly

"Jane, calm down. Everyone's is going to hear you." Bella was trying to hush her, but it wasn't working.

Just as I figured. She had to see if it was true. Such a nosy sister. But I still love her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Alec POV**

My shift went as normal. Stupid newborn wouldn't shut up the entire time asking to be set free. It was interrupting me while I tried to think of Bella. I kept looking at the clock, awaiting the time that I could get out of here and go see her.

She had enrolled in an American school system online. I was grateful for that. She could still finish school. She could be occupied while I was doing my other guard duties.

_Only 10 more minutes. Then I can get away from this stupid person. Ugh! SHUT UP! Gosh, I just want to rip his throat out. But no, Aro would be upset. Ugh! _I thought to myself.

"Would you SHUT UP ALREADY! If you want out so bad, then join the guard. That's the only way that you will get out alive."

"I will not join your coven. I would rather be dead than tied into the "royalty" you guys claim to be."

"Then shut up and suffer the consequences of your actions!" I fumed.

"Alec, yelling won't solve anything." Chelsea said walking by.

"Yeah, I know." I said in reply.

My shift _finally _ended. Thank goodness! I walked back through the throne room. Aro stopped me.

"Alec, could I speak to you for a moment?" That was odd.

"Yes father?"

"Alec, the one in the cells will need to be executed. He has decided not to join us and has caused far too much havoc to be set free. Will you please do the job first thing on your next shift?"

"Yes I will." YES! I can finally get rid of the nuisance that has been annoying me for the past three weeks. "I will be more than happy too."

"Yes. I know you will. As I am sure Felix and Demetri would also. Jane too especially. She is getting annoyed with him hitting on her. Felix doesn't like it too much either. Felix and Demetri will assist you in holding him down. I want you to be the one to rip the head off. Chelsea will tend the fire."

I didn't like him hitting on my sister either. If anyone is going to have my sister, it's Felix. Not some stupid newborn that has caused so much destruction and has almost exposed us.

I ran back to my room and changed. I walked at a human pace to Bella's room two doors down. And knocked.

"Come in." Came Bella's sweet voice from inside. I walked in ran over to hug her into an embrace. She giggled and turned around to face me. It was the perfect moment.

I leaned in slowly and gently kissed her. She reacted immediately and soon it was getting a bit more intense. I had to break it off much too soon so that I couldn't harm her.

We both smiled. I really felt the connection now. Jolts of electricity went through my body and I would imagine her too because she shivered and had a confused expression on her face. We quickly brushed the feeling away and started conversing on how our day was going and such.

"Alec?" Bella was whispering.

"Yes Bella?" I was quite confused by the sudden hush of her voice.

"Well…would you…um…like to make the transformation?" Well, I wasn't expecting that.

"Of course Bella. I would love to. You'll make such a beautiful vampire." I whispered to her.

She smiled. "Ok."

"And Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to accompany me to the ball?"

Her face light up. It was quite adorable when she was excited. "Yes! Of course I will."

"Ok." I laughed and gave her another gentle kiss on the lips.

**Bella POV**

Such an amazing moment. The perfect kiss. Filled with passion and love, something _he _never had. A sudden jolt of electricity went through my body. I shivered at the felling and was confused as to what had just happened.

"Alec?" I whispered.

"Yes Bella?"

"Well…would you…um…like to make the transformation?" I wasn't quite sure how to word it.

"Of course Bella. I would love to. You'll make such a beautiful vampire." He whispered to me.

I smiled. "Ok." This made me happy knowing that he would do it.

"And Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to accompany me to the ball?"

My face lit up. I was excited for this. "Yes! Of course I will." I, Bella Swan, would be going to my ball with the most perfect man by my side.

He laughed with amusement on his face. "Ok." And kissed me again. Oh how did I live without this man? Only a few more days until I could have him for eternity. _Just three more days. Three more days. _I kept thinking to myself.

Alec caressed my cheek. "What are you thinking?" He asked sweetly.

"Just about how much I am looking forward to becoming a vampire and getting to spend eternity with you. What are you thinking?"

"Same pretty much. Are you nervous?"

"Not about this. I want this. It's the one thing Edward wouldn't give me. But he doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that matters is you. I am nervous about my other family though. I will miss Charlie and Renee. I could live without some of my old friends though." The thought of Mike not trying to get me anymore made me smile. No more Mike. Yay! My dream come true.

"Bella, I know that it will be hard. But, as time goes by, you'll forget all about them and you'll to preoccupied with your job as part of the guard."

"You really think so?" I asked hopeful. I didn't want to forget about my family. But I also didn't want to regret my decision.

"Yes. I know so. Is there anything you wanted to do today?"

"I actually just want to go for a run. By myself. I just need to clear my head."

"Don't trip." He laughed.

"I can't make any promises." I told him truthfully.

"OK." He laughed and gave me another small kiss on the lips.


	6. Chapter 6

I changed into my running outfit and put on my ipod. It felt good to be out of the castle for a while and get some fresh air. Running felt good. I had been cooped up in the castle for a few days and I just needed to get rid of some of my energy. I also needed to clear my head of what was all going on.

Being with graceful vampires for so long actually improved my coordination a little bit, although not entirely. I still fell down a lot. Though I have not been to the ER in almost 3 months!

In less than a week I would be a vampire. And while this brought me thrill, I knew I would never see my parents again. I'm sure they are both freaking out right now. Charlie probably has a search party out looking for me. Maybe even looking for the Cullen's. I remembered writing the note to Charlie. Tears spilling down my face as I thought of how much I would miss them.

I did miss them dearly. But I couldn't stand to put them in more pain. It was all my fault for the pain that Charlie saw me in everyday. And when I would over-hear the phone conversations between Charlie and Renee, I could tell it was killing her that she couldn't be there to help me. But I won't let myself regret want I am doing. My decision is final and it will be better. And I'm sure Alec is right. I probably will be to busy to think much about them.

I finished my run and headed to a small smoothie place. After peacefully enjoying my smoothie, I headed back to the castle where I was greeted by Aro.

"Bella, my dearest, may I ask you a question?"

"Why of course you may."

"Well, as you know, the ball will be coming up in only a few days. And I was wondering if you would be okay with me inviting the Cullens'?"

I thought about it for a second. "Yes, that will be fine." I said then walked off to my room to shower and change. Alec was waiting for me on my bed when I got out of the shower.

"You're okay with them coming?"

"Yes. I don't mind the rest of them. They acted as a second family to me. As long as Edward doesn't try anything, I will be fine." He looked at me like I was insane for this.

"And what if he does try something? What will happen then?"

"I will be stronger than him. It should be an easy fight. I'll get Felix and Demetri to deal with him if needed. And he won't try anything if he sees that I'm happy. That's all he wanted. And he left me. So he should be over me by now."

"Alright," He said with a sigh. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. I care for you to much."

"Alec, I will be fine." I said in a tone that made him not continue the conversation.

"Okay."

After a few moments of silence a thought came across my mind. I remembered Jane telling me her and Alec were siblings. But I wondered how they came to the Volturi.

"Alec?"

"Yes Bella?"

"Well, Jane told me that you two were siblings."

"Yes we are. Why?"

"Well, what happened? How did you two become part of the Volturi?"

"Bella, I don't know if I should tell you that right now. I don't want you to have nightmares of what happened."

"Alec, I have had many nightmares. And they absolutely terrified me. And I haven't had them since I came here. I don't think that you telling me will hurt anything."

"Alright then. Jane and I were born in 1415. Back then it was very rare to have twins, nonetheless have them living. So the village that we lived in thought we were witches. We were nicknamed the 'Witch Twins.' So in 1430 people started to wrongly accuse us of doing anything bad in the village. We were accused of murders and such, even though it was obvious that it was a death of natural causes or sickness from some bad poultry. Our mother was the only one who cared for us, really. She was also accused of being possessed by a demon of some sort for having us.

"She was led to a church one evening. After trying to deny that she was a witch, she was burned at the stake. Jane and I were left to live with our father. He was abusive and would often use the money Jane and I earned to by liquor. The beatings were hard and he often reminded us that we weren't loved. I had the ability to somewhat numb myself even as a human. If only I could have numbed Jane." He said with a saddened expression on his face. I rubbed his arm, encouraging him to continue.

"We suffered the abuse for two more years. Finally, in the middle of the night, I heard Jane's screams coming from her room. I ran out to make sure she was okay. And I saw my father among others drag her out of the house. They came after me next.

"We were led to the same church our mother was burned at. They wouldn't even allow us to testify. They thought it was pretty obvious what we were. We were put in the middle of a field and burned. The townspeople watched as we were burning. Jane and I would not dare scream, giving them the satisfaction of seeing us in pain. It was too much for me to even numb myself. And I didn't want to feel guilty for not being able to help Jane.

"Then we heard people screaming and running. A man came over and rescued us. He bit us and handed us off to others telling them to head back to the castle. The man then wiped out the entire village. The pain was even more excruciating than the abuse that we received from our drunken father. And after a few days, we woke up in a bed with three people staring at us with blood red eyes.

"We later learned what we were. Aro was the one that saved us from the fire and executed the entire town. We learned that he had been watching us a while we were still human. He saw potential in us and wanted to wait until we were older to change us." He finished.

"So how did you and Jane get your powers? I heard you sometimes get them from your human years?" I asked.

"I obtained my power from my human years of being able to numb myself of the pain that was upon me. And Jane got hers from the satisfaction of watching other humans of the village hurting. That was what brought her happiness. Other vampires have described her pain as if they are being changed again. Like fire burning through their veins. Just like it felt being burned."

"Alec, I'm so sorry for all that you two had to go through." I whispered.

"Don't be. It has nothing to do with you. And that was hundreds of years ago. And our "father," Alec said using air quotes, "Well, he came for a visit a few years later. Jane and I tortured him before killing him. Not even bothering to taste his vile blood. But if it hadn't been for what we went through, I wouldn't be here right now with you." He smiled and gave me a kiss on the lips. He tried to pull away, but I wasn't going to allow it. We continued until I pulled away to breathe.

"I love you Bella." This made my heart stop. Alec loved me.

"I love you too." I smiled. "Aro's power doesn't work on me. Do you think yours will?"

"I doubt it. Even if it did, I wouldn't be able to use it for the whole three days. It would be nearly impossible too. I wish I could though." He frowned in disappointment that I would have to suffer the pain.

Alec kept me company as I did my school work. We went out to dinner again. I was enjoying every last bit of human food that I would ever eat again this week. Alec, again, looked disgusted at the food I ate as he had every night for the past four days. Only two more days to cherish all of the food and sleep and humanity left..

"You know what I will miss most about you being human." Alec said to me.

"What would that be?" I asked. What could he possibly miss about my klutzy, awkward self?

"Your blush." A small smile played on his lips and I laughed as I thought of Emmett saying that he loved to make me blush.

"What?" Alec was confused.

"Nothing. It's just that Emmett always said that he loved my blush and that he would miss it if I ever became a vampire. He also said he would miss my klutzy self and making fun of me tripping over air all the time."

"Yes. Felix and Demetri I'm sure will miss that too. The whole castle has changed since you arrived, Bella. I, obviously, have found love. Jane is excited to have a new sister. Felix and Demetri are happy to have someone else to play with. Aro is happy to have a new daughter. Marcus actually smiles once in a while now, and Caius is less serious and up tight now."

"Glad I can brighten everyone's day." I laughed.

"We should get going. I have a little business to take care of on duty tonight."

We got back to the castle and I went to enjoy some peaceful sleeping.


	7. Chapter 7

**Felix POV**

"Let's get this over with." Alec said walking into the cell room. "Chelsea, would you start the fire please."

"Of course." She walked over to the large fire pit and started to build the fire to destroy the pest hitting on my wife.

Demetri and I grabbed the newborn-who's name I hadn't even bothered to learn- and held him down as he awaited his death.

"This is for hitting on my wife." I growled and ripped off his left arm. He howled in pain and I knew Jane would be smiling with satisfaction.

"This is for annoying my cousin." Demetri ripped his right arm off. Dem was like a cousin to Jane.

"And this is for every perverse thing you said to my sister." Alec ripped his head off and we threw him in the fire. Dem and I started back upstairs after our duties were done.

"Thank you gentlemen." Aro said as we walked out of the throne room. I started to go to mine and Jane's room. She was sitting on the chair reading a book. She looked up and gave a small smile.

"Take care of the pest?" She asked.

"Of course. He didn't even try to fight back. It was quite boring." I laughed.

"Of course it was. You always say that it's boring when they don't fight back."

"Because it is!" I whined. "I haven't seen a good fight since 1973 when there was a newborn attack in Greece."

"It's ok hunny." She said and patted me on the head. I gave her a kiss on the lips and walked outside to the forest to hunt.

**Bella POV**

It was dark. I was running through the halls of the castle when all of a sudden, I bumped into someone. Alec turned around and grabbed my shoulders.

"Bella, you have to run. Get out of the castle. Take my car and get out of the city. She's back!" He said panicked, shaking me slightly.

"Who's back Alec?"

"The red head. She's back to kill you. You have to go!"

I stood there shocked and scared to death. Alec threw me the keys to his car. Then, I was sprinting. I got in the car and took off as fast as I could. I could see Victoria catching up to me. Alec, Felix, Demetri, Jane and Aro close behind.

Victoria extended her arm out as she got closer to the car and it came it a halt. She came over to my door and bit me.

I woke up screaming. Alec must have heard me because he was by my side in an instant.

"Bella, shhh. It's me, Alec. It's okay. You're okay." He said trying to calm me. "I knew I shouldn't have told you that story."

"No. It didn't have anything to do with that." I said sobbing into his shirt.

"Then what was it? Would you like to tell me? Maybe that will help."

"Well, I went to watch Edward and his family play baseball one time. And these three nomadic vampires showed up. James was a tracker. He tried to get me, so we made this plan to catch and kill him. After we did, his mate Victoria said that she would get revenge. And she's been after me since. And I had a nightmare that she found me and she killed me."

"So, this Victoria person is an actual person?"

"Yes. She won't stop until she gets me."

"Bella, we won't let anything happen to you. I promise. Do you want me to request I take the rest of the night off to stay with you?"

"Would you do that for me?"

"Yes. Of course. I'm sure Aro will understand."

"Ok." I smiled up at him.

Alec left and was back a minute later. Alec laid on my bed next to me, bringing me close to him as I lay my head on his chest.

"Aro allowed me to switch shifts with Jane for the rest of the week until after your transformation is complete."

"Thank you." I whispered. I slowly drifted back into unconsciousness.

I woke up still a little traumatized from last nights nightmare. But all my fears were soon gone when I realized that Alec was still in the place he had promised to be.

"You stayed." I laughed and smiled.

"Of course I did. I didn't want to leave you in case something happened again."

I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and sat up on my bed.

"When does your shift start?"

"In about an hour. Jane will keep you company. I'll be done at 5. Then we can go out like every other night and you can enjoy your last night of humanity."

_My last night of humanity. _I thought to myself. Oh of course I would have to enjoy it. Getting to enjoy the last moments of sleep, the last bites of food, the last of plain, old Bella. However, I was also ready to be a vampire. Ready to spend eternity with Alec, with my new family. I was ready to be a whole new person. Tomorrow, Alec would change me and I would suffer the burning pain of becoming a vampire, but somehow I knew that it was worth it.

Alec left to get ready for his shift. I showered and did some school work. Jane came in to keep me company and we talked for a while.

"So you really like my brother, don't you?" Jane asked.

I smiled, "Yes I do. A lot."

"Well Bella, I'm happy that he is happy. And I know that he really does like you. Aro reads his thoughts, and all he thinks about is you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." She smiled. "He does all the time. I ask what he is so happy about. And it's always the same answer. Bella. You have totally made him the happiest I have ever seen him."

I smiled. "Thanks for telling me that Jane. I appreciate that a lot."

"You're welcome Bella."

Alec walked in then and gave a small kiss on the lips to greet me. "Thanks Jane." He said, looking lovingly into my eyes, and I in his.

"Of course." And she walked out.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Yeah."

We headed out to the garage getting in his car.

"So how was your day?"

"Not to bad. Jane is great company."

"Good. I figured she would be."

"Yes she is."

We pulled up to a small restaurant. Alec went over to my side and helped me out of the car, just like he had every other night, being the gentleman that he is. We walked in and were greeted by the hostess.

"Two?" She asked.

"Yes." Alec replied.

She led us to our table and handed us the menus. A minute later, the waitress came by, clearly interested in Alec.

"Hello. My name is Kaley and I will be your server tonight. Is there anything I can get you to drink?" This question was more directed towards Alec.

"Water." We both said at the same time. Kaley nodded and walked off towards the kitchen, stealing a glance back at our table.

"You know she was checking you out, right?"

"Yes. But I'm not interested of course."

"Yes, I know. And I trust you." I said looking into his eyes. I hadn't really gotten the chance to get a good look at him. I noticed his bright red eyes that I could just melt in, his full lips, pale vampire skin, and his brown hair that seemed to fall in his face from time to time. Never had I thought that I deserved a man as beautiful as him, although I had also thought that about another man that was once in my life.

Kaley came back with our waters and looked at us as we had come closer across the table.

"May I ask what you would like to eat?" She asked this without so much as a glance in my direction, her eyes keeping focus on Alec with flirtatious eyes.

"Yeah, I'll have the Chicken Tetrazzini." I said and she wrote it down on her notepad and looked to Alec again.

"I won't have anything, thank you." Alec said as he did every night.

"Okay. I will be right back with your order." She took our menus and walked away.

Alec and I sat in silence for a moment until he broke the silence.

"Bella, can I ask you a question without you getting mad at me?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"What brought you to the Volturi? Why do you wish to become a you-know-what?" Full curiosity was on his face. I only hoped my answer wouldn't upset him. Yes, he knew about mine and Edward's relationship, but not the true reason why I came here.


	8. Chapter 8

"Well," I began, "Edward and I started dating in March, and in April, after a series of events, a tracker started hunting me and almost killed me. Edward and his family saved me and as I was sitting in the hospital bed, I thought that he was the one. For a while, after really seeing what it was like to be a vampire, I started to consider it. I knew that I would age and that he would stay forever 17.

"After the James incident, he saved me. When I told him what I wanted to be, he refused. He said that he would not destroy my soul. It was the only thing that we fought about. But it wasn't something that I was going to back down on.

"Then my birthday came. Edward and I were sitting in class watching Romeo and Juliet. He had mentioned that he was envious of the options of suicide that humans have. That he once had to consider it when he wasn't sure if he would make it in time to save me from James. He said, had he not, he would've come to Italy and provoked you guys.

"Then, at my party, I got a paper cut and Jasper tried to attack me. Edward felt so guilty and a few days later he broke up with me and the whole family left. I tried to convince him that I couldn't live without him, but he wouldn't listen.

"The two months following, I barely ate, I didn't talk to anyone, and I just was so depressed. Sleeping became nearly impossible with the nightmares I had. My dad couldn't stand seeing me like it anymore and he tried to force me to move back to Jacksonville with my mom. I refused, not wanting to let go of any part of Edward I had left. Then, after weeks of contemplating, I finally decided to come here, knowing I would have the choice of death or immortality. Knowing it was what I wanted and the only thing he wouldn't give me, Aro gave me the choice and I, of course chose immortality. And here I sit now." I finished up looking at his face.

"Bella, how did you get this scar?" He asked, running his fingers over the crescent shaped scar on my right wrist.

"Um, that's from when James bit me. But Edward sucked the venom out before it could spread."

He sighed. "Bella, thank you. That just cleared up a lot of questions that I had about you."

I gave him a smile welcoming him. My food then came out.

"One chicken tetrazzini. Are you sure I can't get anything else for you?" The question more directed toward Alec.

"No thank you." He replied. She walked away with a disappointed look on her face.

"She is really getting on my last nerve." He said glaring in her direction.

"Alec, calm down. It's nothing. Just ignore it." I said putting a hand on his arm.

"Ok." He said and we continued to talk as I ate my meal and on the way back to the castle.

**Alec POV**

We got back to the castle. I took Bella to her room and waited on her as she got her shower. I got a shower as well. After that, I sat on her bed and we talked until she finally fell asleep.

"I love you, Bella." I said, kissing her on the forehead. Bella, with her beautiful brown curls and slender figure, looked just as beautiful sleeping as she did any other time of the day. Watching her sleep was fascinating. She would talk in her sleep, usually about me or the rest of the Volturi.

"Alec, my Alec." Is what she would say. This brought a new found happiness when I heard those words come out of her unconscious mind. The words repeated in my head again and again until the peace was broken by her screams.

"No! Alec! NO!" She quickly sat up and, after realizing where I was, turned and sobbed into my shoulder.

"Bella, what's wrong? Why were you screaming for me?" I was a bit worried. This was the second night in a row for her nightmares.

"Oh Alec," She sobbed, "Alec I had a horrible dream. You were there and so was Edward. And he…he…Oh Alec!" I hugged her closer to me, rubbing her back trying to calm her down as she continued to cry into my shoulder.

"Bella, shhh. Nothing is going to happen. I promise you that. I'm fine and so are you. There is nothing to worry about. The nightmares will be over soon."

"Thank you Alec." And then she crushed her lips to mine and fell back asleep with no more nightmares for the rest of the night.

Bella woke the next morning looking still tired. Purple circles under her eyes and hair all in a mess. "Good morning." I said.

"Good morning." Was her reply with a kiss. "Are you ready for this?" She asked.

"Yes. Are you?"

"Yes."

Bella left, going into the bathroom in a new outfit. Aro came in to tell me a few things before I could change her. He left Bella and I in her room and I told Bella to lay down on the bed.

"Bella, I love you and I'm so sorry for this."

"Hey, don't worry about it." She whispered. "In a few days I wont be so fragile any more. The pain will be worth it and I can spend eternity with you." We kissed, longer than usual. When I thought I was about to lose control, I broke it.

"I love you. I'm sorry. I won't leave your side." And then I bit her.

**Bella POV**

And then the burning fire started.

I don't know how long had gone by. I didn't care about that any more. The fire was too excruciating to care about anything, really. Starting in my hands and slowly making its way through the rest of my body, until it reached my heart. That was were it was the worst. The fire seemed to grow and finally, my heart started to accelerate and the fire seemed to leave….or so I thought. The fire made its way back to my head and burned there for only a few minutes. It made its way to my hands as well and every other part of my body too. Again, it went to my heart and then it stopped. My heart stopped also.

"Aro, why is it taking so long?" My sweet angel said, worry in his voice.

"I do not know, Alec. I have never seen anything like it. Go hunt. Its been 5 days. Your eyes are black and you are starting to grow impatient."

"No. I told her I wouldn't leave. And I intend to keep that promise. I only wish my power would work on her so she didn't have to be in so much pain."

"As you wish."

That's when I woke up. "Alec," I said.

"Bella! Bella, you're awake!" He jumped up from the side of the bed, embracing me in a hug.

"Has it really been five days? I thought it only took about three."

"Yes I know. It took longer than it was supposed to. We don't know why. But you're here now and that's what is important."

Aro, Marcus, Caius and the guard came in then. Everything was so clear and I could hear the cars drive by on the highway outside.

"Isabella has finally awaken! Isn't that wonderful! How does it feel?" Aro asked.

"It feels…," I couldn't think of the right words to describe it. "Amazing." I smiled.

"Well, that is very good. Would you and Alec like to go hunting?"

"Yes." Alec and I, hand in hand, went through the lobby and out the castle to the woods. I felt a slight sting in my hand, but thought nothing of it. I noticed that I was in a new outfit. Jane must've changed me.

"Ok, Bella. Now just let your senses take over." Alec instructed. I smelled a herd of deer about a mile east. I ran towards the smell. It was exhilarating. I came upon a small pond, deer all around drinking from it. I spied a buck, and sat there silently waiting for the perfect moment to take it down. I saw a small mist go towards it and it dropped, paralyzed, to the ground. A few other deer around it did the same as the mist reached them. I gasped and looked around for Alec. He was no where to be seen. I lunged for the deer and drank it dry. After, I saw Alec emerge from the woods.

"Wow Bella. Good job for your first time." He kissed me with a smile on his lips.

"Alec, I want to try something."

"What is it?" I let the mist go to him a he dropped to the ground paralyzed just how the deer had. I gasped again. I had Alec's power. I let the mist refrain from Alec and he got up. Looking at me in a shocked way.

"Bella? What just happened?" He asked confused.

"I don't know. Maybe we should get back to the castle. Aro might know." We ran back to the castle and went straight to Aro's office.

_Knock, knock. _"Come in." Came Aro's voice. We walked in. "Ah Isabella. I assume your hunting trip went well?"

"Yes, very well. However, something happened. I think I have found my first power."

"Wonderful. And what would that be?" He asked with full excitement on his face and in his voice.

"Well, I think it's the same as Alec's. I somehow got a few deer to drop down paralyzed, and I did the same to Alec"

"Hm. I will call a friend of mine. She can read what powers a vampire has." Aro walked over to the phone. A woman answered.

"Hello?" Said the woman.

"Kaytlyn. It is Aro. How are you?"

"Oh hello Aro. I am doing quite well. As for yourself?"

"Quite well indeed. I called to ask for a favor."

"Ok. And what would that be?"

"Well we have a new member of the guard. She just awoke from her transformation about an hour ago. And it seems that she may have a power. Could you come and check it out?"

"Of course Aro. I can have Tim transport us over when he gets home. He should be home soon, so it won't take long."

"Very well. Thank you so much. Goodbye. He hung up then.

"Thank you Aro." I said and Alec and I walked out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Aro POV**

~*One hour later*~

"Aro, you have a few visitors." Gianna said through my headset.

"Send them in. And call for Isabella and Alec to come in please."

Kaytlyn came in through the double doors with her husband Brock. Alec and Bella arrived a few seconds after.

"Kaytlyn, Brock. It is so nice to see you again." I greeted them. They came over and greeted the counsel and the guard.

"This is our newest addition to the guard Isabella. She has woken only hours ago."

"Hello. I am Kaytlyn and this is my husband, Brock."

"Hello." Said Isabella.

"Well, now that we have the introductions done, how about we take a look at what your powers are." I looked towards Kaytlyn. She gasped.

"I have never seen anything like it. Isabella, you have two powers. You have both a mental and physical shield and you can gain any power that you want. You can absorb other vampires powers." We all gasped, shocked.

"How is that possible?" She asked.

"I do not know. Its never been heard of before. But, I would advise that you use this power for help instead of harm. You may just be the most power vampire in the world." This shocked us all.

"Um. Thank you Kaytlyn. I hope that all is well at home. You may go now."

"Thank you." She said and they left.

"Bella, I want you to absorb everyone's powers. Obviously you already have Alec's. I want you to also have Jane and Demetri's. I will also tell you who's I would like you to have at the ball. That will be held in three days as scheduled."

"Ok." She went over to Jane, grabbing her hand, absorbing her power. Then the same to Demetri. Her and Alec then exited the throne room.

**Alec POV**

Bella really was something special. Never would I have thought that we would have found a vampire with two powers! Yeah, she was special.

We walked into her room, where she went into the closet and changed. She looked stunning as ever.

We sat in silence for a few moments. I looked at her and wondered, _How did I get such an amazing girl? _I was interrupted from my train of thought when Bella broke the silence first.

"Alec? Hellooo? What are you staring at?"

"Oh…ummm…nothing. Just wondering what I did to deserve such a perfect girl like you." She smiled, and if she were human, I knew that she would've blushed. "Bella, you know that you will have to do some fight training. Probably not until after the ball though. But you will have to. You'll be with Jane, Felix, Demetri and I."

"Of course. I figured I would have to have some sort of training eventually. Alec, since you and Jane have your powers, have you ever had to actually participate in a fight? You know, like, actually fighting?"

This question didn't come as a surprise to me. I was sure that she would ask a question like this. "Actually yes. Jane and I both have. Sometimes, it's to distracting or there are simply too many vampires to immobilize them. And Jane can only induce pain on one person at a time. So, yes, there have been times where we have actually had to fight. But our powers don't make us weaker since we don't fight as often as the others. We're actually the strongest members of the coven. People who know about us fear Jane and I. They know our powers and they fear that we will harm them. So then it's quite easy to be able to kill them. But we still have the same training that the others have."

"Ok." She whispered and looked down. "I just don't want anything to happen to you if Edward or any of the rest of his family try to do something." A saddened expression was on her face. Obviously, she had thought about this before.

"Bella, nothing is going to happen. Carlisle is a good friend of Aro's and I know that he won't tolerate Edward or anyone else misbehaving. Aro won't either. All guests are subject to being banned from all balls or any other events that the Volturi may hold if they don't behave."

She sighed. I could only hope that Edward wouldn't try anything with her. And if he did, he would surely die. I wasn't going to tolerate him trying to get my Bella back. I already knew that she wouldn't go back, but I knew that that wouldn't stop him from trying if he did. "Bella," Jane entered the room. "Aro requests that we go shopping for the ball. Alec has to go to."

"Ugh! Do I have to? I hate shopping!"

"Yes, Alec, you do. Felix and Demetri and Afton have to as well. So suck it up." She stuck her tongue out at me and I did the same to her.

"Oh come on, Alec," Bella said, taking my arm and dragging me out of the room. "It will be fun."

**Bella POV**

We pulled up to the mall, going into the tux place first, knowing that we would probably spend most of our time looking at dresses.

The guys came out of the dressing rooms in their suits. After gaining our approval, we headed to the multiple stores containing dresses. The guys decided to go to the sports store, leaving us girls to look at all of the dresses.

"Oh Chelsea, I love that one on you!" Her dress was beautiful on her. It was a simple black gown, ruffled just enough, with diamonds on the skirt.

"I love this one! This is the one I'm getting. Afton will love it."

Jane came out next in a red dress. "I'm torn. This red one or the blue one?" She said.

"Jane, they both look great one you. But I liked the red one better." I said.

"Yeah, Jane," Chelsea added, "I liked the red one a lot."

"That's what I thought. Although I really like both of them. But I think the red one won." Jane went back into the dressing room to change back into her normal clothes.

Heidi then came out in a purple dress. It was simple, with a little flare on the bottom. It complimented her red eyes and pale complexion well. The we checked out and went to find the guys and we left back to the castle.

Shortly after arriving back home, Alec and I decided to take a walk and another small hunt. The next tour of humans coming through wouldn't be until after the ball, and it would be my first human feeding. I knew I was taught against this, but I was living with the Volturi, human blood drinkers. I might as well adjust. Looking to my human life, even though it only ended less than a week ago, I laughed. I was now graceful and I wasn't the plain Jane I had been. And I had Alec, the guy I knew would love me forever, unlike Edward who decided I was in too much danger with him and that he didn't want me anymore. Now I was glad that he had left.

Hand in hand, Alec and I walked the forest. He led me to a small clearing in the forest. It reminded me of mine and Edward's meadow, but this was smaller and gave a clear view of the sunset.

"Oh, Alec. This is beautiful."

"I thought you would like it," He said wrapping his arms around my waist, kissing me on my neck. I turned around in his arms and gave him a kiss on the lips. This kiss was more passionate. I wasn't so fragile any more and the kiss lingered on for what seemed like forever, with his arms still around my waist and mine tangled in his hair. Finally he broke it.

"I was thinking that you would want to view the sunset with me." He said.

"Of course I would." We lied down in the grass, watching the sunset. The sun hit both of us and we sparkled in the light. I gasped at how I looked. Of course I had seen other vampires in the sun, but this was different, as it had just hit me that I was now a vampire.

"I love you." I said.

"I love you too. Bella, the ball is in two days. What if something happens? I don't think I could lose you."

"Alec, I told you, he only wanted me to be happy. If he sees that then he won't do anything. Even if he did, I don't love him anymore. I'm not going to leave you."

"Bella, I don't doubt that. I just want to tell you, that if something were to happen, if you were to go back to him, I just want you to be happy. If you're not happy with me, that's ok. But it will kill me if you're not in my life."

I sat up and he did the same. I grabbed his face on both sides, forcing him to look at me. "Listen, Alec. I love you and only you." I said emphasizing on the word _only. _"And nothing can get in-between us. Not Edward, not a fight. Nothing. I love you and you love me and we're stuck together forever." I kissed him with more passion than ever. After a few minutes, we decided to head back. Alec had guard duty tonight and I would be starting as well on a shift with Jane, Felix and Demetri.

I changed into my dress and put on my cloak and headed to the throne room. Things were…strange. Aro, Marcus and Caius were all glowing when I walked in. Wait. Did I just say that Marcus and Caius were happy? Yes, something is strange. Very strange.

"Hey Princess." Jane said as she walked past me to go to her spot.

"Hey?" It came out as more of a question. Felix and Demetri gritted me with the same name.

I was so confused! "Aro, why is everyone calling me Princess?"

"Well Bella, as you already know, you are the most powerful vampire in the world. And so it is only appropriate that we name you Princess of Volterra."

"Princess of Volterra? Really? Thank you thank you thank you!" I squealed and ran up to Aro, hugging him and everyone else in the room.

"Hey princess. Congratulations." Came Alec's voice and I ran up to him. He caught me in his arms and kissed me. He left then, and I started on my guard duties.


	10. Chapter 10

**Carlisle POV**

I was on my way home from the hospital when I got a text from Esme asking me to hurry. _What did the boys do this time? _I thought. But when I got home I saw that the house was in perfect condition, as was the surrounding area. And the house was abnormally quiet.

Everyone was gathered around the dining room table. They all shot a glance at me as I entered the room.

"What's going on?" I asked confused.

"We got something in the mail from the Volturi." Rosalie responded.

Esme handed the unopened envelope to me and I began reading out loud.

_Carlisle Cullen and Family, _

_It is our great honor to invite you all to a special ball held by the Volturi on November 25, 2010 at 6 pm. We will be announcing the addition of our new Princess of Volterra. She has been a wonderful addition and has great potential as Princess._

_Aro, Marcus and Caius_

Well, I cannot recall there ever being a Princess of Volterra. If anything I would have expected it to be Jane.

"Who is it, Alice?" Esme asked.

"I don't know! I can't see anything! This very frustrating. Why can't I see anything?"

"Alice, let's go upstairs." Jasper said, putting a hand on Alice's back and leading her towards the stairs.

"I'll go book the flight tickets." Emmett said.

"The ball is in only three days. We'll have to go shopping." Rose said with a smile on her face. Very quickly, Alice came rushing down the stairs dragging Rosalie and Esme with her, Tanya following close behind.

Edward was dating Tanya Denali now. They have been for about a month and a half now. I was quite surprised that Edward moved on from Bella so quickly. I thought it would take longer than just a few weeks to get over her. I didn't even bother to ask questions.

I wasn't sure why Aro would all of a sudden decide to declare someone Princess of Volterra. There must be something special or significant for this to happen. I would have thought it would be Jane to be announced as Princess, seeing as her and Alec are the Volturi's most prized members. Well, I guess we would just have to wait a few days to see who the Princess is.

**Bella POV**

"Bella, Aro requests that we go in for a training session. He wants you to have some before the ball." I nodded and followed Demetri to the training room. Felix, Alec and Jane were already there waiting for me.

Felix and Demetri started out, showing me tricks and techniques to use in case of a fight. Alec and Jane trained me in some fighting, but mainly on how to use and control my powers. Heidi and Chelsea came in after their shift was done, doing more fight techniques.

"Bella, never turn your back on the enemy." Felix said as I had turned away from Heidi and was taken down unexpectedly. I reacted quickly by getting my arm around her waist and flipping her onto her back, slamming her into the ground.

The slight burning itch in my throat came again. I scratched at my throat, feeling a slight burn.

"Don't lose focus." Jane came from out of know where. I wasn't expecting her, so she took me off guard.

"Babe, you cant lose your focus. That makes you an easy target."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I got thirsty."

"Do you want to go on hunting break? You'll be able to focus better once the thirst in quenched."

"Yeah." Alec and I walked to the woods outside. I took down a deer and a few rabbits before I decided I wasn't so thirsty anymore. Alec also fed. The hunting trip also gave us a chance to practice my power that I gained from Alec.

"Alec," I said as we walked back to the castle at a human pace, "What is this ball for exactly?"

"Every new member has a ball thrown to introduce them to the other known about covens. The covens get to know you and vice-versa. Plus, you are the Princess. That's never happened. So it's totally new to our world."

"So, what your saying is that all of the attention is going to be focused on me, right?" He gave a slight nod, trying a stifle a laugh, knowing I hated attention. "Fabulous."

"Bella, it's only for one night."

"Do you remember what I told you about what happened the last time all the attention was on me for just one night. I was almost killed by a vampire!"

"Yes, this is true. But look at you now. Now you're a vampire. So there's nothing to worry about." Alec said with a laugh.

"Alec, do you have any idea why it took so long for my transformation to be complete?"

"I talked to Aro. He's not completely sure either, no one is. But Aro thinks that it might be because you have more than one power. And the fact that one power allows you to gain others' powers. Its never been heard of. You're the only vampire that we know of that has more than one power, or even the power to gain another's."

We arrived at the castle. Our shifts started for guard duty. Alec went to the cells and I went to my place in the throne room. The shift was uneventful. Nothing really happened…that is until Felix and Demetri decided to place a bet. Unfortunately, I was involved in this.

"200 says Bella could beat you in an arm wrestling match." Demetri shouted from across the room.

"Oh whatever. I am bigger than her, and therefore I will beat her." Declared Felix.

"She's a newborn. So she still has some of her human blood left in her. She's stronger than you."

"Fine then. We battle it out. Come here, Bella." I sighed and walked over to the table where Felix and Demetri were standing.

"Not again. Felix and Demetri and their stupid bets." I heard Aro groan.

"Ready little sister." Felix taunted as I positioned my arm on the table, taking Felix's hand in mine.

"One, two, three." Demetri started.

I hadn't realized how strong Felix was until now. He was probably about the equivalent of Emmett. After a few minutes of some struggle, I finally won.

"200." Demetri yelled at Felix.

"Humph!" Felix was not happy.

"Oh. Just give it a year or so and we can have a rematch." I said.

"I won't forget that." Felix said and walked back to his position.

Guard duty ended and hour later and I went in for some more training. Really, I just learned the basics of vampire fighting. I would learn more when the time came. At least I would have some training in case something were to happen at the ball.

The ball was only a day and a half away and I was curious as to see what would happen with the Cullen's. Whether Rosalie would still hate me and whether Jasper would still be upset with himself for what happened. If Alice and Emmett would still love me as their little sister, just like Felix and Jane, and if Carlisle and Esme would still love me as another child. And then of course, Edward. I don't what he will think of me being a vampire and having Alec.

After I had perfected my training skills that I had learned so far, Alec and I went to the movies to view a special showing of _Romeo and Juliet. _I had already seen this movie a ton of times, but I still cried dry tears. With Alec reciting some of Romeo's lines into my ear, though, it was a bit hard to concentrate. His voice made me melt anyway. And saying Romeo's lines only made me fall for him even more, if that were possible.

And then he whispered, "Will you marry me, Isabella Marie Swan?"

I looked at him wide-eyed. He held a small, black velvet box in his hand, open revealing a beautiful diamond ring. He was smiling and so was I. "Of course." I said. He slipped the ring onto my finger and gave me the most passionate kiss yet.

We left the movie early so that we could make our announcement. Gianna was the first to know, as she saw the ring on my finger when we walked into the lobby. She gave us her congratulations and we went to tell the rest of the Volturi.

"We're engaged!" I announced with a smile on my face, as did Alec. Jane, Chelsea and Heidi all squealed, obviously very excited. Aro, Marcus and Caius were all very happy for us. Felix congratulated me in a bear hug and Demetri gave me a congratulating smile. Today was perfect.


	11. Chapter 11

**Bella POV**

It was the day of the ball. We finished guard duty early so that we could start setting up. All of the guys started setting up while us girls started getting ready. I started to do Jane's hair and Heidi did Chelsea's. Renata did makeup. We switched when done and then got dressed. We were almost done getting ready, we only had to add the jewelry now.

"How do you think they will react when they see that you are engaged, Bella?" Heidi asked.

"Hmmm…I don't know. I haven't thought about that I guess." I replied with a smile. Alec and I haven't known each other for even a month, but I felt that I had known him my whole life. I could already see myself marrying him. I was broken out of my thoughts by the sound of a little girl.

"Aunt Bella!" I turned around to see Ariana in a yellow dress and white sandals.

"Hey girlie. You look pretty." I said as I picked her up.

"Thank you. You look pretty too." She said.

"The guys are just getting dressed. So we have about 10 minutes." Chelsea said, walking into the room.

10 minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Alec, Felix, Demetri, Afton and Santiago walked in. They looked spiffy. Alec found me.

"Hey beautiful."

"You don't look so bad yourself." I said, kissing him on the lips.

"How are my two favorite girls?" Afton kissed Chelsea and Ariana both on the top of their heads.

"You look beautiful, Jane." Felix kissed her on the lips as well. Santiago found Renata and Demetri found Heidi.

We all walked out to the double doors leading to the throne room. I heard Aro introduce Felix and Jane and then Demetri and Heidi. Chelsea, Afton and Ariana went next, then Santiago and Renata. Finally, it was Alec and mine's turn.

"And now, to introduce the new Princess of Volterra. She has been a wonderful addition to the Volturi. Isabella Swan with her fiancée Alec." The double doors opened and we walked in. I saw the Cullen's almost immediately. They all looked shocked to see that it was me. All of them looked this way, except for a strawberry blonde girl that clung to Edward's side. I recognized her as Tanya Denali. I mentally laughed at them.

I sat on my throne up front. Aro placed a tiara on top of my head. I had a very happy expression on my face. The Cullen's were still standing there with their jaws dropped.

A glass of blood was handed to me and Aro began, "Bella, since the day you arrived here as a human, I knew that you had great potential as a vampire. Since you have arrived here, the castle has changed. Marcus and Caius actually smile once in a while. I am proud to call you Princess of Volterra and I only hope the best for you and Alec as you begin your relationship as a married couple in the near future."

"Thank you, Aro." We raised our glasses in a toast and the festivities began.

I walked from my throne and Alec met me on the floor. We walked around, I receiving congratulatory comments and chatting with a few people. I noticed that Alec had left and was talking to some friends of his.

An hour had passed. I felt Alec's arms snake around my waist.

"May I have this dance?"

"Yes you may." Alec and I started slow dancing. I had my head rested on his chest, reminiscing about the pasts few weeks. Every single moment of my time with him was amazing, special in its own way.

"I love you."

"I love you too. We need to start planning the wedding." I said.

"Hm. Yes we do. Have you thought about a date?"

"I was thinking about June 3rd."

"June 3rd is perfect."

"May I cut in?" Asked a familiar voice. He had a small southern accent that I immediately recognized as Jasper. Alec gave a worried look.

"It's ok, Alec. I trust him." Alec then walked off, talking to a few friends.

"Hello, Jasper. How have you been?"

"I've been good, Bella. I can see that you have as well. And I see that you are engaged. Congratulations." He smiled.

"Thank you, Jasper."

"Bella, I'm really sorry for what happened between us. I didn't mean too, but I couldn't help it. Everyone else's thirst was making me even more thirsty and I just lost control." He looked down with a frown on his face. I guess he still felt guilty for what happened.

"Jasper, I know that you couldn't help it. I don't blame you at all. And I forgave you long ago. I was never mad at you or anything."

"Really, Bella? Oh, thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

"Don't worry about it, Jazz. How's Alice holding up?"

"She's…better. I guess she's realized that you're not coming back now that Edward has Tanya. She is still crushed though. You were her best friend."

"Yes, I guess Alice was the one I missed most. Except for the Bella Barbie parts." We both laughed, remembering the times where I wanted to run away from Alice and her games.

Then I heard an unforgettable voice that belonged to Emmett. "Can I dance with you, Bella?"

"Of course, Emmett."

**Emmett POV**

I was shocked beyond belief to see Bella walking into the room. I couldn't believe she was a vampire, especially one of the Volturi. I saw her dancing with Jasper. They were talking about something, but I couldn't make out what they were talking about.

I wondered what Edward had told her when we left. What was his excuse for leaving? I knew that he had told her about our lack of aging and that it had something to do with us moving, although it was really a lie. That had nothing to do with it. I figured that he told her it was because of what happened at her party. But I wasn't sure if he had told her the truth about leaving. I needed to tell her if he hadn't.

"Can I dance with you, Bella?" I asked.

"Of course, Emmett." Jasper walked off to find Alice. I gave Bella a big bear hug.

"Belly bear, I've missed you too much!" Putting her back on the ground, we began swaying back and forth to the music. "How's it going, Bells?"

"Just great. Life is much easier without Edward in the picture."

"Yes, I can see that. Bells, what was his excuse for us leaving?" I think she was confused as to why I asked the question.

"What happened at my party. Why?"

"Do you want to know the truth?" She nodded.

I began, "About a month or so after the James incident, he went to Alaska for a week long hunting trip. The week that I was in charge of you. Well, he didn't just go to Alaska to hunt. He also went there to see Tanya. I guess he started seeing something in her and he cheated on you. Numerous times at that. Bella, I'm sorry to say that he didn't really love you after that.

"He was going to break up with you, but he didn't know how. And when your party came and everything happened, he figured that would be the perfect excuse to end it without having to tell you about his affair.

"I don't know what is so special about Tanya. She really isn't that pretty. The only thing I could think of is that she was already a vampire and so they didn't fight about her wanting to be changed. The other thing that I could think of is that she wasn't breakable, so he could actually get some, for once in his life." Bella looked pissed.

"I'm shocked that he cheated on me. I really am. Who all knows about the affair?"

"Carlisle and Esme are the only ones who don't know. Alice saw it coming already and Jasper could feel the lust toward each other coming from them. Rose and I walked in on them by accident once. And let me tell you, it was very disturbing. But we couldn't tell Carlisle and Esme. As far as her family knows, they know about them and they know that you're his ex, but they don't know that he had an affair."

"Thank you for telling me that. I know it may seem weird, but I really appreciate the honesty." She gave a small smile.

"No problem. I figured you would want to know the truth. Well, I have to find Rose. I need to spend some time with my wife, I suppose." I gave her another quick hug and went off to find her.

She was standing in the back of the room, staring at something. "Hey baby." I said, kissing her neck. She sighed, looking upset. Then I realized what she was looking at. I saw Afton holding taking his daughter, Ariana, away from Chelsea. He walked out of the room with her, I assume to put her to bed.

"Em, I want one." She had a solemn tone and face.

"I know. And it kills me that I can't give you one." I saw Edward walk up to Bella. This was going to be good.

**Edward POV**

_Edward, she has to know. _Emmett's thoughts came into my mind and I knew he was about to tell Bella the truth. I didn't want her to know the truth! That's why I didn't tell her!

Emmett gave full detail about what happened. When he was done, I walked up to her.

"What do you want?" She sneered.

"Bella, yes I did cheat on you. And then I lied to you. But you must understand, I only lied because I thought it was best for you." I said apologetically.

"Really, Edward? So you cheated and lied for my best interest? Because of you, I was depressed for two months before I came here. Do you know how much I hurt Charlie and Renee? And the friends I lost? I came here for death because of you! I thought that you loved me. But as I can see you have Tanya to love. But I have Alec now, so I guess I don't care about you anymore." I was hurt that she came here looking for death. And she got it. An eternity of hell. "I cannot believe that you would cheat on me. I thought you were more decent than that. And I was the stupid one to think that." She finally finished her little speech.

"Bella, I cannot believe that you came here in the first place. You wanted death and you got it. I cant say that I'm surprised that you got your wish. I just wish that you weren't with the Volturi."

"Edward, I can only thank you for this. Had you not left, I wouldn't be here. Yes, I _thank _you for this. I love it here. I love Alec and I love my new family. You are the one who cheated, lied and left. So don't even bother to care for my well-being anymore." She was getting madder with every second, until Alec cut in.

"Hey, what's going on here?"

"Nothing, Alec. He was just leaving." Bella walked away with Alec's hand around her waist. Alec gave me a death glare and I was afraid because of him and his sister. I knew they wouldn't hesitate to kill me.

_Stay the hell away from her. _He thought. I went to find Tanya.


	12. Chapter 12

**Bella POV**

"Hey, what's going on here?" Alec came up to us. He must've seen us fighting.

"Nothing, Alec. He was just leaving." We walked away, Alec putting his arm around my waist. Alec turned, giving Edward a death glare. Edward actually looked afraid for his life. I was glad. Hopefully he wouldn't interfere anymore.

Alec and I walked to my room in silence. When we entered, he began, "What happened?"

I sighed and walked over to the doors leading to the balcony. "Emmett told me the truth about him leaving. He cheated on me. He thought the party was a good excuse to leave me without having to tell me about the affair. He was upset that I am a vampire. He was even more upset that I was here. I told him not to care about me anymore. I also thanked him for leaving me because I wouldn't be here or have you without his absence. And then you came in."

"Bella, I will never leave you. And I will most definitely stay loyal to you. There is no other woman that can come between us and I will be a loyal husband to you."

"Thank you." I whispered, turning around, kissing him on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." There was a knock at the door.

"Come in." I said. Rosalie walked in. I was surprised to see her coming into the room.

"Rosalie."

"Bella, can I talk to you? I have a few things that I wanted to say to you."

"Yes, of course."

"First, I'm sorry for what you went through tonight. I couldn't imagine what I would go through if I had just learned that Emmett cheated on me, then lied about it. The house hasn't been the same at all since we left. Nobody is happy except for Edward and Tanya. Tanya, Alice and I went shopping the other day for the ball, and that was the first time anyone went shopping since we left. Emmett doesn't make fun of anyone anymore, and Esme has stopped gardening. Jasper just feels guilty all the time and Carlisle just works more hours so that he doesn't have to be home to see all of us so sad.

"But what I really came here for was to apologize to you about my behavior. I know that I wasn't the one to treat you the best, but I guess I was jealous. I was jealous of the fact that you could still bare children if you wanted too. And I was angry that you were giving it all away. This isn't the life I would've chosen for myself." Rosalie looked at me with sincere eyes.

"Thank you, Rosalie. I never hated you. Until now I could never understand why you hated me so much. I see the reasons now."

There was another knock on the door and Alice came in. "Bella!" She squealed.

"Alice!" We gave a quick hug.

"Oh my gosh, Bella. I cant believe you are the Princess."

"Really? You didn't see this?"

"No I didn't. I don't know why. I could see you before."

"Oh. Maybe my shield had something to do with it."

"Shield?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. It's one of my many powers. I can absorb powers and I also have a mental and physical shield. I am the most powerful vampire in the world. I have your power, Alice, although mine is slightly different. My visions aren't subjective like yours, so my visions are certain and cant change. And I have Edward and Jasper's powers too, among others." Alice and Rosalie's mouths both dropped. It took them a few minutes for them to process the information.

"Wow, Bella. That must be wonderful." Alice said.

"Yes it is." I said with a smile. I didn't notice Alec had left until he walked back into the room.

"Bella, Marcus wants you in his office."

"Ok." I got up to leave, but Alice stopped me.

"So this is Alec, your fiancée? Oh Bella, you're going to make a beautiful bride."

"Yes, this is my fiancée." I laughed. "I really must be getting to Marcus now. I hope you guys are good."

"Yeah, you too, Bella. But we need to be going too. We have school and Carlisle has work in the morning."

"Oh, I forgot about Carlisle and Esme. I didn't get to talk to them. Can you tell them I said 'hi.'"

"Of course, Bella. Oh. Who were the Volturi guard members with the child?" Rose asked.

"That was Chelsea and Afton. They adopted their four-year-old daughter, Ariana, when she was born."

"Ok. Thanks." They left then. Alec and I went to visit Marcus.

_Knock, knock. _Alec and I entered Marcus' office to find him sitting in his chair. "Bella, would you like to know your ties now?"

"Yes please, Marcus."

"Well, Aro and Sulpicia are your parental figures. Caius and I are your uncles with Athenodora as an aunt. Everyone else is a brother or sister to you. Ariana, of course, is your niece and well, I think you already know about Alec." He smiled.

"Thank you, Uncle Marcus. Alec is my soul mate, isn't he?"

"Yes he is. Your bonds are strong. Nothing is going to come between you two."

"Yes, I can see that already. Thank you." I walked out and was surprised when big arms caught me.

"I have a new little sister!" Felix swung me around in a bear hug. I loved him.

"And I have a few big brothers and sisters!" Felix put me down and I headed to my room. It had been a long and some-what stressful evening after the Edward confrontation, so I decided a shower was in need to relieve me of some of the stress. And I was glad to get out the dress and into some sweat pants. I curled up on my chair and began reading _Wuthering Heights _once again. I finished the book in only two hours and was bored with nothing to do. I thought about calling Alice, then I realized that she would be on the plane and not answer her phone. A vision came to me then.

_Aro and Alec were talking in whispers. They were in the cells. "Aro, she can't know. She'll be scared out of her mind." Alec said with a worried tone,_

"_Fine. She won't know. The execution will take place tomorrow when she goes dress shopping with Jane and the girls. Make sure everyone knows not to tell her of what's going to happen." Aro walked away then._

Odd. Who was going to be executed? Obviously they wouldn't want me to know so I wasn't going to press for answers. Alec walked in with wedding and bridal books and magazines. "Jane insists that we start planning the wedding now." I put my book away as he set the things down on the table. We started going through the magazines picking out colors and cakes and whatnot.

"And Jane said that you girls are going dress shopping on Thursday at one." So the execution was taking place on Thursday afternoon. "Ok. I'll have to call Alice later to get her dress size."

"She's going to be in your wedding party?"

"Yes. It's only Edward that I don't trust anymore. The rest of them are fine. They always were."

"Are you inviting Edward?"

"I'll invite the whole Cullen family. If he chooses not to attend, fine. And if he does, that's ok too."

"I just don't want our wedding ruined because of him. It's your special day and you don't need to be stressed out because of him."

"It won't be ruined. Do you think that it would be ok if I invite a few human friends? They were what, I guess kept me from completely falling apart, when Edward left."

"I don't mind. You'll have to ask Aro though. See what he says. It's his final decision, though. Who are these friends?"

"Oh, just Jacob, Quil, Embry and Seth. My dad and Jake's dad are really good friends, so he was over a lot and he kind of stitched the hole in my heart. I met Quil, Embry and Seth later with Jake. They helped out a lot too. But they didn't help completely."

"Did anything-" He started but I interrupted him.

"No, nothing romantic happened between me or any of them. They were just my only friends I had. I miss them." Alec was understanding of this. He called for Aro to come in.

"I see that you have started planning the wedding. Oh my dear Bella, you will make a wonderful bride." Aro said as he entered the room.

"Father, I have a question to ask you," He nodded for me to continue. "I had a few friends from my human life that really helped me after Edward left. And I miss them terribly. They don't know about vampires, but I was just wondering if it would be ok to invite them to the wedding. I understand if you deny my request. I just wanted to ask before I did." He stood there, pondering my request for some time before answering. "Yes, you may invite them, dear. They will have to find out about us, though. As long as they can keep the secret, I have no problem with them coming. However, if they cannot keep the secret, you know what will happen."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, Daddy! And, yes Father, I know the consequences if they cannot keep the secret." I gave him a hug. I was so happy and I could tell Alec was happy as well, judging from his thoughts. _I'm glad he said yes. She'll be so happy at the wedding now._

"Ok. You must make sure that the invitations go directly to them. Also, put a note in each invitation telling them that nobody is to know about it. Only amongst the four of them. We can't have anything getting out about where you are. Also, tell them that we will pay for their flight tickets."

"I understand."

Aro left then to do some work.

"Are you happy?" Alec wrapped his hands around my waist, kissing the top of my head.

"Yes. How about we take a break from planning for a bit. We have until June."

"Alright." He said.

We went into the home theater to watch a movie. Alec popped a movie in. I'm not even sure what it was. I wasn't paying much attention to it. I kept thinking back to the vision I had earlier. I wanted to know what was going on. Alec had said I would be scared if I found out who it was, so I decided to ask after the execution had taken place.

I was also thinking back to earlier in the day when I had my confrontation with Edward. I was still in shock that he had cheated on me. Especially that he did with Tanya, meaning he lied about that too. He had always told me that she was obvious, with her constant flirtatiousness and always trying to seduce him. But he told me that he showed no interest at all. It made me wonder how much he had lied to me throughout our whole relationship.

I was broken out of my thoughts with another vision:

_Alec and I were at the store, looking at car seats._

"_Are we getting this one, then? Because we need to decide soon. We only have three days until we get them." Alec said._

"_Yeah. It seems like the safest one. Grab two of them and put them in the cart." I replied. We walked over to look at cribs. We decided on one and grabbed two of them._

"Bella? Hey, did you just have a vision?" Alec said waving his hand in my face.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry it was nothing. Hey, random question, but, have you ever thought about kids?"

"What? You mean having kids?" I nodded. "Well, um. Yeah. But I know that it's not possible. Why?" He was confused.

"Oh, nothing." I said.

"Bella, do you want kids? Because I know that it's not possible for us. I hope I didn't take that ability away from you without you not knowing this."

"No, Alec. It's fine. I already knew that this was going to happen. Trust me. Edward had reminded me of that quite frequently. I was just wondering."

"Bella, do you wish to have children?" He looked concerned.

"Yes I do, Alec. But I can't have children anymore. I know the sacrifices I had to make in order to be with you or to become a vampire. Also the sacrifices being with Edward. But I knew that I wanted this more than anything and that it wouldn't be safe to bring a child into my life for a while. But now I see that I have incredible thirst control. So I just wanted to know if you wanted kids and that maybe we could adopt later on in life." Alec looked at me, an expression I didn't recognize on his face. He smiled then.

"Bella, that would be wonderful. But you must know that the child will have to keep the secret. That's why Ariana doesn't go to a regular preschool because Chelsea and Afton fear that she might accidentally slip. Not that they don't trust her, but they just want to take extra precautions. Especially now since she doesn't quite know what not to say. Maybe later she will be allowed to attend a regular school, but not while she is still young and doesn't know better."

"I understand, Alec. We can do it after the wedding and after things are settled. We'll need to move though. I don't want a child living here. I don't want the child to interfere with the Volturi by being a constant bother. It would be better to have our own place." He nodded in understanding.


	13. Chapter 13

Guard duty came and went, the same as always. It was 8am when shift ended and stores didn't open until 10. Today we would be dress shopping. It was also the day that the execution was taking place. I still didn't know who it was, and Alec and the rest of the Volturi were doing a good job at keeping their thoughts hidden from me. It was very frustrating. Now I understood how Edward felt when the rest of his family would keep their thoughts hidden from him, or even when he couldn't read mine.

I decided that I should call Alice to ask her to be a brides-maid. About twenty seconds later, I got a text from her:

_Really, Bella? Of course I would want to be a brides-maid!_

I went for a small hunt in the forest before coming back in to shower and get ready. Jane, Heidi and I met in the lobby to head out for the shops. Chelsea and Ariana were meeting us at the first store since Chelsea needed to make sure Ariana was ready and fed.

The first store was a small store with some lovely dresses, but when one of the employees was rude, we walked out. I wasn't going to buy a dress from someone who was making snide remarks towards us. Especially when Ariana was the subject of them.

"We don't like small children in our store, ladies." She said with a scowl. Chelsea gave her a look that you don't see on her face often.

"My daughter is causing no problems at all. She is perfectly calm and content just as she is." Chelsea said back.

"Yes. Well, she is still a small child. And we all know how children are, loud and obnoxious." Chelsea looked like she wanted to rip the girls throat out. It took a few minutes for her to calm down enough to exit the store and head for another.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the second store. This one with much nicer ladies and we started browsing the dresses. An employee came over to help us, picking out a few dresses that she thought I might like.

The first few dresses just didn't seem right. They weren't what I imagined myself to look like on my wedding day. Trying on the fourth or fifth dress, I came out of the dressing room, stepping on the platform with a satisfying smile on my face. The girls gasped at my appearance.

"Bella, I love it!" Jane said.

"You look absolutely beautiful." Heidi said.

"I like that one, Aunt Bella!" Ariana said, running up to give me a hug.

"I like this one too, a lot. I think this is the one." I said with a content sigh. I loved the dress. The top was simple, with no beading. The bottom flared out and was pinned up in a bunch of ruffles. The dress was simple, but had an elegance to it. It was perfect. The saleswoman placed the veil atop my head. The whole ensemble was perfect.

The other girls also got dresses. They went just past the knee. They were a light green color, with a white band on the bottom and middle. Ariana's flower girl dress was just the opposite. It was white with a green band on the top and middle and a few green flowers on the skirt of the dress.

After purchasing the dresses, Ariana started to complain that she was hungry, so we stopped at a McDonald's on the way to a few other stores. Other things were going to be purchased for the wedding including invitations, decorations, and a few other things.

The shopping was done and so we decided to go home then. Ariana was asleep already, clearly tired from the day of shopping. Chelsea headed home and the rest of us headed back to the castle. It was 3 o'clock when we got back to the castle.

I walked in to see Aro with a smile on his face. "Ah. Isabella, my daughter. How was the shopping? Did you get a dress?"

"Yes, we did Father."

"That is good. Alec is just finishing his guard duties. He should be arriving back soon."

"Thank you, Father." I exited to my room.

**Alec POV**

The red head that Bella feared was brought into the cells a few days ago. Victoria. Aro and I discussed her fate and decided that death was the best thing for her. We wouldn't give her the option of joining us since Bella was so petrified of her.

Aro and I were in the cells discussing what would happen to her. "Aro, she can't know. She'll be scared out of her mind." I was worried at what Bella would be like if I told her that we had Victoria in our possession.

"Fine. She won't know. The execution will take place tomorrow when she goes dress shopping with Jane and the girls. Make sure everyone knows not to tell her of what's going to happen." Aro walked away then. I needed to make sure that everyone knew the plan. Jane and the girls especially since they would be with her all day.

"You know, that Bella girl isn't anything special. It's her fault that my James was killed. She deserves to die." Victoria sneered. I ignored her. She will die tomorrow and all of the worries will disappear.

I walked out of the cells to tell everyone of what was going on. They all were surprised that Victoria was here and vowed their silence, making sure to block their minds when Bella was around. I walked into Bella's room to see her sitting on the chair with a confused expression on her face. She must've had a vision.

We began planning the wedding at Jane's request. I was a little surprised that she wanted to have a few human friends attend, but I was very happy that Aro said yes. I knew that she was happy about that, judging by the smile on her face.

We decided to take a break from planning and watch a movie. I was totally engrossed in watching the action movie. I could tell that Bella wasn't paying attention to the movie because it looked like she was spaced out for most of it. Then she had a blank expression on her face, telling me that she was having a vision.

"Bella? Hey, did you just have a vision?" I said waving my hand in her face.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry it was nothing. Hey, random question, but, have you ever thought about kids?"

"What? You mean having kids?" She nodded. "Well, um. Yeah. But I know that it's not possible. Why?" Her question confused me.

"Oh, nothing."

"Bella, do you want kids? Because I know that it's not possible for us. I hope I didn't take that ability away from you without you not knowing this."

"No, Alec. It's fine. I already knew that this was going to happen. Trust me. Edward had reminded me of that quite frequently. I was just wondering."

"Bella, do you wish to have children?"

"Yes I do, Alec. But I can't have children anymore. I know the sacrifices I had to make in order to be with you or to become a vampire. Also the sacrifices being with Edward. But I knew that I wanted this more than anything and that it wouldn't be safe to bring a child into my life for a while. But now I see that I have incredible thirst control. So I just wanted to know if you wanted kids and that maybe we could adopt later on in life." I smiled at this. I have wanted children for a very long time.

"Bella, that would be wonderful. But you must know that the child will have to keep the secret. That's why Ariana doesn't go to a regular preschool because Chelsea and Afton fear that she might accidentally slip. Not that they don't trust her, but they just want to take extra precautions. Especially now since she doesn't quite know what not to say. Maybe later she will be allowed to attend a regular school, but not while she is still young and doesn't know better."

"I understand, Alec. We can do it after the wedding and after things are settled. We'll need to move though. I don't want a child living here. I don't want the child to interfere with the Volturi by being a constant bother. It would be better to have our own place." I nodded in understanding. The thought of having a child brought me happiness. I know that Bella and I will be wonderful parents.

The movie ended and I gave Bella a quick kiss before she left for guard duty. I retreated to my room to shower and read a book. Bella came in when her shift was done to tell me goodbye. As soon as I knew that they were out of hearing distance, I headed to the cellar when Felix and Demetri were already waiting for me. Afton started the fire.

"Stay still and this will go faster." Felix yelled at Victoria, who was harder to kill than we thought. She wouldn't stop moving and trying to get out of our grasp.

"Just give me the girl and this can all be over. She deserves to die after what she made Edward do to my mate." She yelled at us. Finally, after much struggle, we caught her when she became too weak due to the lack of feed. I ripped her head off and threw it to Afton who threw it in the fire. Demetri and Felix dismembered the rest of the body, also throwing it into the fire.

The rest of work was easy. Just some paper work for the last few killings needed to be filled out.

I got off duty and walked into my room to see Bella sitting on the bed, patting the seat beside her. "So, what happened today?" She asked with a smile on her face.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, sitting on the bed.

"Alec, don't play dumb with me. I had a vision of you and Aro talking. Who was killed today and why wasn't I allowed to know about it?"

"Victoria." I said. "She was brought here a few days ago when Demetri recognized her. I didn't want you to know about it because I figured you would be afraid. I'm sorry if your upset with me for not telling you." She looked me in the eyes.

"Alec, I'm not mad at all. Thank you for considering that. I appreciate it." She gave me a kiss on the lips. It was a simple gesture, one that we exchanged all the time, but it reassured me that she wasn't upset.

"Did you get a dress?"

"Yes I did. And you cant see it until the wedding." She smirked. "Alec, I love you and I can't imagine myself with anyone other than you." she whispered.

"I love you too, Bella. And don't think that even for a second that it's not true, because it is." I whispered back.


	14. Chapter 14

**Bella POV**

A month have gone by since I have come to the Volturi and life is great. The wedding plans are coming along nicely and the Cullen's are flying in tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with us. Alice, Esme and Rosalie are also going to help plan the wedding some.

I was just a week before Christmas and the mall was crazy to say the least. People running around trying to get last minute gifts, children getting pictures with Santa and a ton of sales going on. I was standing in line to check out at GameStop to get a game for Alec. I was starting to grow impatient with the freakishly long line and I just wanted to get back home to the castle.

I finally got checked out and started to head for my car. I sped my way out of the mall parking lot and headed towards the castle. I ran to my room, wrapping the gift quickly and placed it under the tree.

It was abnormally quite in the castle and I wondered where everyone was. I wondered throughout the entire castle looking for anybody. As I went by the door leading to the east garden, I heard laughter from a few people. I headed out there and saw that everyone was having a snowball fight. I quickly joined in on this. Ariana ran up to me, grabbing me in a hug. I hugged her back. She was quite adorable because she was all bundled up in her coat and other winter apparel.

Ariana and I both ganged up on an unexpecting Felix. He retaliated by bombarding us with more snowballs.

"Momma, can I have some hot chocolate?" Ariana asked Chelsea with her puppy dog face that no one couldn't not give in to.

"Of course sweetie." Chelsea led Ariana into the kitchen and the rest of us went inside as well. I followed Chelsea and Ariana into the kitchen, taking a seat by Ariana while Chelsea got her hot chocolate.

"Marshmallows please!" She exclaimed. Chelsea added the marshmallows and some cold water so that it wouldn't be terribly hot.

I absolutely adored Ariana. She was the best niece ever. I couldn't wait until Alec and I had a child.

I sighed. "What's wrong, Bella?" Chelsea asked looking at me.

"Oh. Nothing. What does it feel like to be a parent?" I asked.

"Well, it's hard at times. And it doesn't get easier as they get older. It just brings a new round of things piled onto what is already there. But it's the best feeling in the world. What brought that question on?"

"Well, you know how the visions that I have are certain? Well, I had a vision of Alec and I at the store and we were picking out car seats and cribs. I didn't tell him about the vision, but I asked if he had thought about kids. And he said yes. But he brought up the point about not being able to have kids and so I asked him if he would be willing to adopt after the wedding and everything is settled down. He was quite happy about that and agreed easily."

"Oh Bella, that's wonderful. You and Alec would make wonderful parents. It's such an amazing feeling to be a parent. Sure, there are the times when you just want to pull your hair out, but the feeling that you get when you hold them in your arms or watch them take their first steps and say their first words are some of the best moments in your life. Afton and I both have wanted to pull our hair out at times, but we still love it."

"Thanks, Chels. I really hope Alec and I can be as good of parents as you and Afton are." She smiled and out a hand on my shoulder.

"You two will be excellent parents. You will love the child with everything that you have and that's the one thing you guys definitely have is love. The child will be the most loved kid in Volterra, along with Ariana. And not just by you guys, but by everyone else too."

"Um, yeah. About 'the child'," I said emphasizing on _the child_, "My vision showed us buying two of everything. Cribs, car seats."

Her mouth dropped slightly. "Bella, two kids?"

"Yes. I didn't see them or anything. Just us shopping for them."

"Wow, Bella. I can't wait to meet them." She smiled.

"Yeah, me either. And I know Alec will be thrilled too. I haven't told him about the vision yet. So, can we not tell him or anyone else of this conversation, please?"

"Of course. My lips are sealed."

"Thanks." I gave her a quick smile before exiting the room.

The Cullens' would be arriving in just less than 24 hours and I couldn't wait to see them all again. Well, minus a few. I still haven't completely forgiving Edward fro lying and cheating. And I hadn't really even met Tanya yet. It should be an interesting encounter.

I walked into my room, heading for the shower. Alec had left to get some things for Aro and had to go all the way to Venice, which is still a three hour drive, even when we are driving. So I had just about the rest of the day by myself. I frowned at that.

I decided to read a book for a few hours. I didn't have guard duty until seven and it was only two. I got bored of reading after a while. I wondered what Jane was doing, and then remembered that she was covering for Alec. Chelsea had gone home and Heidi went with Renata to see a movie. That left the guys. Felix and Demetri. But they were out hunting.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was 6:30. There was a knock at the door and Jane came in. "Aro requests to speak with you." She said. I got up and walked into the throne room. Aro was sitting in his throne, an amused expression on his face as always.

"Bella," he began, "Um. We request that you make a decision on your diet preference. Animals only or humans."

I looked down at my feet before deciding. "Father, I know that the Volturi are primarily human drinkers, but I don't think that I could take an innocent humans life. So I would like to remain on my animal diet."

Aro looked at me, then said, "Alright. Very well, then. We will keep your diet choice in mind. It is now time for your duties to begin."

I grabbed my cloak and began my shift.

Shift seemed to drag on. It was very uneventful. I was counting down the minutes until I could see Alec again. Hopefully, Aro wouldn't have him running anymore errands for a while. Or at least I could go with him.

I finished up the paper work that Aro had given me and went back to my room. Alec was sitting there, watching T.V. He looked up when I walked into the room. I went over to him , sitting on his lap, giving him a lingering kiss.

"I missed you." I said.

"I can tell. I missed you too." He said, laughing. "Bella, can we talk about something?" The question was abrupt.

"Yeah. Anything. What is it?"

"Why did you ask about kids?"

I looked down, fumbling with my fingers for a minute before I began, "Well, I had a vision. And we were buying baby stuff. Two of everything." His face dropped.

"Is that why you asked?" I nodded. "Bella, that's wonderful! I've always wanted to be a dad but knew that the chances were extremely small. But two of everything? Why two?" "I don't know, Alec. I guess we will be adopting two kids. I'm not sure though. I didn't see them. I only saw us buying things and we would buy two of everything."

"Wow. Bella, I can't believe it. I mean, first I find you and now I learn that we are going to be adopting kids. It's everything that I have always wanted in life. A love and a family. I love you." He kissed me. It seemed to last for a very long time. I broke it.

"I love you too. And I can't wait to start a family. I never really had much of a family until I met the Cullens'. And so I want a big family."

"Ok. Me too. I know what it's like not to have much of a family. Jane was my only family for the first 17 years of my life. And I know that you didn't really have much of a mother and your father was absent for much of your life. So I want a big family too."

"I just don't want to be like my mother. She was so carefree that I was almost the parent and her the child."

"Oh, Bella. Don't think like that." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You won't be like her. You are your own person. And I don't want to be like my father. Of course he was an alcoholic, so I know that won't happen. But he was also abusive and unloving. But I'm not going to think like that because I am not him. You'll be a wonderful mommy."

"And you'll be a wonderful daddy, too." I kissed him again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Bella POV**

_We'll be there in about 30 minutes. _I got the text from Alice. The Cullens' would be here shortly to have an early Christmas with us. The Guard was just finishing up the final touches of décor in the castle. Christmas was a big deal here apparently.

I ran into my room and headed for my closet. I threw on a sweater and some jeans. I put on some heels and added a little bit of make-up. I noticed that Alec had changed into a polo and some jeans with tennis shoes.

We headed into the throne room, hand in hand. I was excited to see them again. We kept in touch after the ball, although I haven't spoken to Edward since. Rose and I had made up and we were pretty close now. Jasper and I were too. Alice and I, of course, kept our best friend status and Carlisle and Esme were, again, my second parents.

I could hear their footsteps coming down the hallway. I was almost bouncing up and down in excitement. Felix and Demetri opened the doors. Carlisle and Esme were the first to walk in. I was greeted with a hug and a kiss on the cheek from both of them.

"It's so nice to see you again, Bella." Esme said as she hugged me.

Emmett and Rosalie did the same, as did Alice and Jasper. Edward and Tanya came in last. They approached me.

"Bella, I'm really sorry for lying and cheating. I hope that you can forgive me and that we can still be friends. And I hope that you and Tanya can be friends too." Edward looked at me with hopeful eyes and gave a weak smile.

"Of course I can. All I wanted was an apology. Thank you." I hugged both him and Tanya. "Well, now that the greetings are over, I suppose we could go open gifts."

Alec and I led the Cullens to the sitting room. Gifts were exchanged and so were a lot of laughs. Conversations took off and I soon found myself talking to the girls in my room while all of the guys chatted about some game that was on in the sitting room.

Alice and Rosalie were amazed by my closet to say the least. Their mouths dropped when they saw the mass collection of clothes. Yes, they had their own grand collection, but they had a limit as to what they could buy after a few shopping incidents.

"You like the closet?" I asked.

"Like it? I love it! No, I more than love it!" Alice exclaimed, excitedly.

I laughed. "So, what's been up with everyone lately? It has been a few weeks since I have seen you girls."

"Things have been good, Bella. We are so glad that we can have a relationship with you again."

"Me too."

"How's the wedding planning going?" Rosalie asked.

"It's going good. Just a few disagreements here and there but fine otherwise."

"What kind of arguments?"

"Well, he wants the wedding to be in the west garden, but I want it to be in the east. We're still debating about that one. Also, he thinks that Aro should be the one to wed us, since he is the ruler of the castle. But I just think that is weird since he is my father figure."

Rosalie laughed. "Oh, I remember the arguments Emmett and I had about our first wedding. He wanted it to be outside when it was the middle of December. I had to keep reminding him that the minister was human and that he would probably think it very odd that we were having an outdoor wedding in December. And I'm sure that he could get a clerical license online for you guys." She laughed.

"Oh yeah. Because I am sure that would go over well. I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face."

"This is true." Alice piped in.

I noticed that Tanya hadn't said a word since we came in here. "Hey, Tanya. What's up?" I asked softly.

"Nothing." She said.

Um, guys, could we have a minute?" I asked Alice, Rose and Esme.

"Of course, Bella. We will leave you two alone." Esme said and they walked out. Tanya gave me an odd look.

"Tanya, I know that we have one thing in common. You love Edward and I loved him. Past tense. I'm not going to take him away from you. I know what you're thinking. Trust me. I can read minds just like he can." She gasped at this, but I continued. "I don't love him anymore. Not like I did, at least. I love Alec. Sure, I love Edward as a brother and I won't love him anymore than that. You can trust me when I say that. And I hope that we can have a sisterly relationship like I have with Alice and Rosalie."

"Really, Bella? Because I want that too. I was just worried that you and Edward would realize that you really do love each other and I didn't want that to happen. Edward has told me many times that it won't happen, but it was nice getting to hear it from you too."

"I know where he is coming from on that. I have had to tell Alec that so many times, especially in the beginning. It was hard for him at first. But he got through it. And we were completely honest with each other about everything. I told him why I came here and what actually happened as to why Edward left me. He told me exactly what he was feeling and I told him that nothing was going to get in between us. So I am sure that Alec knows where you are coming from because he was in the same position."

"Thank you, Bella. I really needed that talk. I am glad that we can be sisters." She gave me a smile and we hugged.

"Come on. Let's go find our men." We walked into the game room where we found everyone. Alice and Edward were playing chess, which was quite the site. Between Alice being able to see Edward's moves before he played them and Edward being able to see her visions and thoughts, it was quite an interesting game. They finished the game in only five minutes.

"Check mate." Alice declared. Edward looked at her in defeat. He mumbled something along the lines of 'stupid future seeing pixie' and Alice shot him a glare.

"It's only a game, Edward." I said.

"But she cheated!" He yelled.

"Oh like you didn't read her mind just like she looked into your future." Tanya said. He dropped his head in shame.

_Edward, I understand how you feel about having to tell her about us. I was in the same position. She understands everything now. _I thought to Edward, after I dropped my shield.

_Thank you. I appreciate that. _He thought back.

_Alec was in the same position as her. I had the conversations many times with him._

_I'm sure you were. Again, I'm sorry for everything. But I see that you are happy now. So I am glad._

_And I as well._

The rest of the afternoon went well. We all chatted and had a good time. Soon, it was time for the Cullens to leave. Carlisle had to work and the rest, except for Esme, had school.

"Goodbye. I'm going to miss you. Call whenever and come visit anytime you want. I'll visit you too, sometime." I said as I hugged and kissed everyone on the cheek. They left, then.

"Are you happy that you and Edward made up and that you and Tanya are friends now?" Alec asked as we walked back to his room.

"Yes. I am very happy about that. Tanya understands everything, now. She was in the same sort of position that you were. Alec, I need to know that you really understand that my feelings for Edward are sibling like, now. I love him as a brother and nothing more. But I love you as a lover."

"Yes, I understand that fully now. Edward got to talking and we talked about that for a little bit. It was nice to hear it from him too. It kind of confirmed everything, I guess. I love you, Bella."

"I love you too, Alec" He gave me a gentle kiss.

We watched a movie when we got back to his room. It was relieving that everything was clear and understood by all four of us. Now I could just focus on the present and the future, without worrying about the past and how it could affect things.

I was also happy that Tanya and I could develop a friendship. She was going to be a great sister. Alec and Edward also started to develop a friendship. It made me happy that they could get along. Alec also formed bonds with the rest of the Cullen men. They got along well when it came to sports and other guy stuff. He thought that Emmett reminded him of Felix. I had to laugh and agree with that. He also laughed when I told him about what Rosalie had said about Emmett getting the clerical license.

I had two families and I couldn't be any happier. And in just a little over 5 months I would have a loving husband, who I wouldn't trade for anyone in the world. And then I would have a family after that according to my vision. It was the start of a bright and beautiful future.

Alec's arms were wrapped around me as laid on the bed, watching the movie. I didn't want the moment to end, but Alec said that it was time for my shift to start and I had to get ready.

"I don't wanna go." I whined.

"Hey, you're the one that wanted this. So don't complain." He said, playfully.

I got out of the bed. I headed to my room to get ready. I went back to Alec's room and gave him a quick kiss before I went into the throne room for duty.


	16. Chapter 16

Guard duty went by quickly and I found myself looking more magazines and stuff with the girls. Planning the wedding was going well. Alec and I still had our small disagreements here and there, but they were usually resolved quickly. He usually just said that I was right.

"I like this cake. The color goes perfect." Jane said pointing to a beautiful green cake with small, white flowers going up the cake on one side.

"That one is perfect, Jane." I said. We continued planning, picking things out and circling them in the various magazines and books that we had.

I don't know how long had gone by, but I realized that it was light outside when we decided to stop. Alec was still on duty, so I decided to take a small hunting trip in the forest. Renata went with me. We aren't really that close. I was closer with Heidi, Jane and Chelsea but not Renata.

"So, what's your story?" I asked her as we were walking to the forest. She must've been surprised at my sudden question because of the look on her face.

"Well, Caius found me in 1954. My parents had died in a car accident when I was three. I was sent to a foster home when nobody could locate a family member to take care of me. Caius adopted me and I was changed when I was 20." Her story was short, sweet and to the point. Hers wasn't more detailed like Alec's was.

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

"It's ok. I don't remember anything. That's the story Caius and Athenadora told me, at least."

We got into the forest. I tracked down a few good sized deer and decided that I was full. We walked back to the castle where Gianna stopped me.

"Isabella, Alec is waiting for you in the garage. He wants you to meet him in there."

"Ok. Thank you." I was kind of confused as to why Alec was waiting for me in the garage.

"Hey." Alec gave me a sweet kiss on the lips.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked.

"Well, we haven't been out in a while. So I just thought that we could spend a little alone time together."

"That sounds nice." I smiled looking into his eyes. We got in the car heading for the park. It wasn't sunny today so we could be outside in public. It was a bit chilly for a human so we had to keep up the human charade by wearing coats and such.

We walked hand in hand through the park, admiring the lights on the trees and just talking. We talked about pretty much everything ranging from the wedding to other things. Somehow the conversation turned into my parents.

"Do you miss your parents?" He asked.

"Yes, of course. Everyday. I think about them all the time."

"Do you ever think what life would be like right now if you hadn't come here?"

I sighed. "Yes, I do sometimes. But I don't really want to think about that too much because I know the state that I was in. I was practically a zombie. Even after two months I couldn't speak his name. my father didn't need to see me like that anymore. And my mother was hurting because she wasn't there to help."

"It will get better. Or at least that's what everyone says. Jane and I obviously were glad to have gotten away from our father and our mother was already dead. Renata doesn't really remember hers. But everyone else says that it gets better. You'll start to forget. Demetri doesn't even remember the names of his parents. It gets easier after a while."

"I hope so. I don't regret coming here, but I wish that I didn't have to leave my parents behind." Alec pulled me in closer to him. I seemed to be less upset when he did that.

"So, have you gotten anymore wedding stuff done?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah. We picked out a cake. I figured that if I had my human friends there, we should probably have cake. Plus, what's a wedding without one?" "Hm. This is true. Do you know who all you are going to invite?"

"Well, those four friends, of course. And the Cullens' obviously. The Denali's' and the Irish coven. Probably the American Nomads. Then of course, whoever you want to invite. And I am sure there are others that I am forgetting at the moment. But we have until about the middle of May to decide when we send out the invitations."

"Good. I didn't think you were the type that would want a big wedding." He said.

"No. Most people would be surprised. That is the one thing that I want. The only day where I will actually want attention. So that I can show off who the wonderful man in my life is." I smiled up at him.

"And I want to show everyone who the wonderful woman in my life is and show them that she is mine." Alec's face mirrored mine.

We decided to head for the car then. The car ride was filled with a comfortable silence, the only sound was the soft music on the radio. We pulled up to the castle and walked in. We still had the rest of the weekend to spend together. Neither of us had guard this weekend.

Alec and I went to his room. We lounged around enjoying each others presence.

"Is there anything you want to do this weekend?" He asked looking down at me. We were lying on his bed watching a movie.

"Hm. Want do you want to do?" I asked.

"Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Sure."

"Where?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Have you ever been to Paris?" I shook my head. "Do you want to go there this weekend? We have until Tuesday."

"Ok. I would love to go to Paris."

"Ok. I will make the flight arrangements while you go pack." I got out of the bed and headed for my room, going to the closet. I grabbed a suitcase and started packing enough clothes for 4 days.

"Where are you going?" Jane asked, walking in.

"Alec is taking me to Paris for the weekend." I replied, looking at her.

"Oooo…Paris is wonderful this time of year. You and Alec will have a wonderful time."

"I have no doubt that we will." Alec came in telling me that we had to be at the airport in 4 hours. He went back to his room to pack the rest of his clothes. We left the castle a few hours later to catch our flight.

"We will be landing in Paris France is one minute." The pilot spoke over the intercom. We landed and headed towards luggage claim. Then we got our rental car and went to check into our hotel.

"Wanna go do some sightseeing?"

"Yeah." Paris was beautiful to say the least. The snow covering the ground just added to its beauty. We saw the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, as well as a few other places. We decided that we would visit some museums and do a little shopping tomorrow.

"Did you enjoy your time today?"

"Yes I did. Thank you for bringing me here, Alec. I can't wait for the rest of the weekend."

"Me too. Paris is one of my favorite places to visit. But now I have someone to visit with other than Jane, Chelsea and Heidi when they drag me and their guys out here for Fashion Week. Blah!"

I gave a small laugh. "Yes, well don't think that you will get out of that. We have already started talking about that. The guys go because they need to accompany us. Plus, everything is always better when you are around."

"Really? And the same for you. Bella, I love you."

"And I love you too, Alec. What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"Well, I was thinking that since you haven't been here before, I would show you around a little bit. And you could do some authentic Paris shopping."

I laughed a little. "Sounds great to me."

The weekend went by in a flash. Alec and I got to spend some uninterrupted time together, which was nice. It was also a good break from work and planning the wedding. We visited several Paris attractions and I did a lot of shopping. I definitely would not be clothe deprived after this trip. Alec got a few things too.

Paris was now a favorite destination spot. I would love to go there again. If it was that beautiful in the winter, I wanted to see it in the fall, summer and spring too.

"So you really enjoyed the trip, hu?" Alec asked me as we drove back to the castle from the airport.

"I really did enjoy it. It was a nice break from everything. A nice trip for just the two of us." He gave out a chuckle, giving me a kiss on the lips. We walked into the castle and were greeted by the Counsel and those on guard.

"Alec, Bella. Did you enjoy your trip?" Aro asked us.

"Yes we did, father. We enjoyed it a lot."

"Alright then. I am glad to hear that. Now, I assume you have a lot to unpack. Especially you, Bella, I'm sure. So I let you two go now to do that." I gave Aro a kiss on the cheek and went to my room to unpack my now four suitcases.

"I heard you enjoyed the trip."

"Jane, you just pop out of nowhere."

"Yeah. Pretty much. Get used to it."

"Yes I did enjoy the trip. It was nice to get away and just have 'us' time."

"Yeah. Felix and I usually go away for two or three weeks every year. It's nice. So did you guys do anything…" I knew where this conversation was leading.

"No, Jane. Nothing like that happened. That's one rule we want to keep unbroken. Not until we are married."

"I understand. I just wanted to make sure of that. Alec thinks that's one rule that should be kept."

"Well, I do too. I really do love him, but I just want that rule to be kept unbroken until the right time."

"Good. Here, let me help you unpack." We finished unpacking all of my clothes, shoes and accessories from Paris. It only took about an hour with the two of us doing it.

"So, I have a question for you. And if you don't want to answer, I understand. But why is Renata so reclusive? I hardly know her and she barely speaks."

Jane hesitated for a moment. "Do you know her story about her parents dieing?"

"Yeah. She told me a few days ago on our hunting trip."

"Well, she doesn't remember that whole thing pretty much, simply because she was just too young. Caius and Athenadora told her that her parents died in a car accident, but lately she has been questioning that. She wonders if there is more to the story or if they told her that for her protection or something. Which is partly true. Her parents abused her. Her mother was an alcoholic and her father was into drugs of all sorts. They were both under the influence when they wrecked. Thank goodness Renata wasn't in the car when it all happened.

"Caius and Athenadora haven't told her that because they don't want the memories to come back to her. She's been doing a lot of research lately on her parents. Caius might be telling her the full truth soon. He would rather her find out from them than from the internet or from one of us." "Oh, I see now. That's so sad." I said quietly, looking down at the ground.

"Yes, it is. But now she's here." Jane gave a small smile, which I returned.


	17. Chapter 17

Christmas arrived just a few days after Alec and I got back from Paris. The entire Guard was coming over today to exchange gifts. Christmas was full of laughter and fun. After our blood dinner and Ariana's "human dinner" as we called it, we all exchanged gifts.

I had gotten Alec _Call of Duty: Black Ops _and a snowboard, knowing that he had been talking to the guys about going sometime. Alec got me a Coach bracelet and a necklace from Tiffany. The necklace was beautiful, but I knew that it had to of cost a fortune. It had two white diamonds followed by a sapphire that went around the whole necklace in a pattern.

"Alec, I love it. I really do, but, this must have cost a fortune."

"Nothing is too expensive for you. You deserve it." He murmured, kissing my neck.

I sighed. He always knew how to make me melt. His voice alone made me melt, seeing him and his actions only made me fall more in love with him, if that were even possible.

"Aunt Bella, Uncle Alec! Look! I got a new princess dress." Ariana showed us the dress that she got.

"Wow. That's a pretty dress." I said, matching her enthusiasm,

"Very pretty." Alec said. She walked back to Chelsea and Afton, who were sitting on the floor, buried under all of Ariana's gifts. I could see Ariana's eyes grow wide at the sight of each gift she received. I head Alec chuckle behind me.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. Just," he pointed to Ariana, "that's going to be our kids someday."

I had to smile at that. "Yes it is."

After a few more minutes of chatter, the guys decided to play a game of football. Chelsea and Heidi also joined. Felix, Alec, Santiago, Caius and Chelsea were on a team. Demetri, Afton, Aro, Marcus and Heidi were on the other team. Jane, Renata and I sat out with Ariana. Jane and I kept scores for the team while Ariana and Renata just watched. The game was starting to get very intense when the teams were tied with only two and a half minutes left in the game. The teams were huddled up, figuring out a new game plan to win. The teams soon broke and got into position. Afton had the ball throwing it to Demetri, but Chelsea caught it in an interception and ran for the final touchdown. She did her victory dance, as did the rest of the team. Demetri's team all had frowns on their faces.

Demetri's team challenged the other team to a game of basketball in the gym. This family was big into sports and competition. Demetri's team won this time. They decided that they needed a tie breaker to see which team was better, so the team captains, Chelsea and Heidi, had to do a best out of five in Just Dance 2. Chelsea won, therefore declaring her team the winning team.

It was nearing 12 o' clock. Afton and Chelsea left, needing to put Ariana in bed after she had fallen asleep in my bed around 9:30.

Alec and I were walking to my room hand-in-hand. It was silent for a few minutes until Alec spoke. "So, you know how you said that we should move out before the kids come?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking that, maybe, we could move out before the wedding. You know, get a bit of…independence, before the wedding. That way we can get things settled quicker. If you're ok with that. I mean, if not, I understand."

We stopped, now outside of my room. I stood there, thinking for a minute. I looked at him, "I think that would be great. We can start on our own before the kids get here and before the wedding."

"Ok. So when do you want to move?"

"We can start looking at houses in the morning. There were a few houses a couple miles away that I really liked. I want to live in the country. You know, kind of away from people so that we don't have to hide. Kind of secluded, I guess."

"That sounds perfect. There are a few houses that I saw, one I thought that you would love. We'll go after we get off."

I got dressed quickly, changing into a pink, knee-length dress with black shoes. Today was feeding day. Heidi was out today, so I had to fetch the humans. They all looked very excited to see the inside of the Volterra castle. The kids were fascinated by the decorations of the lobby. Little did anyone know, they would be dieing today.

"Hello and welcome to Volterra. My name is Bella and I will be your tour guide today. We will be taking a tour of the castle. The castle dates back to the Renaissance

era in the 1300's. Please stay together and refrain from touching things. Follow me." I led them to the throne room. Felix and Demetri opened the large doors, stepping in after the group. Aro stood to greet them.

"Welcome." He greeted. I walked out then. I saw Alec give me a small smile. He knew that I was opposed to their diet and was supportive of my diet choice, although he wasn't entirely sure of why I would want to abstain from human blood. I went into the library to sort some books. It was also far enough away that I couldn't hear the screams coming from the throne room.

Demetri came in after feeding. "So, how was your meal?" I asked. Looking down at the book I was holding.

"Fine." He said. "I heard you and Alec are going to be looking at houses today."

"Yup. Why don't you and Heidi move out?"

"I don't know. Just don't really find it necessary, I guess. We don't have children, so we don't really need our own space."

"Oh. Have you guys thought about it?"

"Children? Neither of us want one. We're happy with our family as it is." He gave a smile, which I returned. "But we'll be glad with the new additions when they come."

"I'm glad. They'll need their Uncle Demetri to help beat up Felix." We both laughed. I noticed that it was noon and I left. I went to my room, changing into jeans and a long sleeved shirt. I walked into the garage to meet Alec while sliding my coat on.

We talked about random things. We looked at one house that was just too close to the city for our liking. Another house was going to be too big for just a family of four. When we pulled up to the third house, I immediately fell in love with it.

The house was large with a large wrap around porch. It had four bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. It was large and spacious. The kitchen was wonderful. I knew that I would love cooking for my kids in this kitchen. Going through the house, I fell in love with it. Alec thought it was the perfect home, as did I.

"Alec, I love this house. I was thinking that we could turn the fourth bedroom into an office. And paint the family room something dark, like a burnt orange color to make it kind of cozy with the fireplace. I love this house." I marveled.

"Then should we go sign the papers?" He asked, a smile on his face. I nodded.

We signed the papers, happy to have our own place. "Alright, the current residents have 30 days to move out. And then you can move in on January 30th." The realtor told us. We thanked her and walked back to the car. We walked into Aro's office when we got back to the castle.

"Hi, father." I said, peeking my head in the door.

"Hello, Bella. Alec. Did you find a house?"

"Yes we did. Here is a picture of the house and the inside floor plan. I think it will be the perfect house to raise a family."

"Hm. It looks like a wonderful home. Where is it located?"

"Out further into the country. About 30 minutes away." Alec replied.

"And there is a large amount of wooded area with the property. The realtor said that deer pass by often, as do small animals. So I can hunt often." I said.

"When do you move in?"

"January 30th." Aro had a slight frown on his face. "But we will visit often, of course. And I'm sure that with the kids there, people will be visiting us a lot, too." His frown faded.

"Well, I hope that you two will enjoy your new home and family when they come. I know Chelsea and Afton did."

"Thank you, father. I'm sure we will." I gave him a tight hug. Alec and I walked out. "We'll have to go furniture shopping. And we'll need to find paint and decorations and design the nurseries once we find out what we are getting and…"

"Whoa, slow down there, Bella. We just signed the papers. We still have a while until we can even move in. We have plenty of time to do that stuff." Alec chuckled.

"I know. I'm just excited I guess. I can't wait to have our family be complete."

"Me too, babe." He caressed my face in his hands and gave me a kiss on the lips. He ran a finger under my eyes. "You're thirsty. Why don't you go hunt? It's been a while."

"I'm fine. I don't even feel thirsty."

"Bella, if you don't hunt, you'll start to get weak. You're already weaker than us. If something happens, you might not be able to fight someone off as well as the rest of us could."

"Alec, I'm fine. Really. I'll go hunting. Could we please, just not argue about this right now? We are both in really good moods and I don't want to ruin that. I'm glad that you're concerned for me and my safety, but I don't want to feed off of humans. I know that you didn't have the greatest past with humans and don't value human life as much as I do, but don't think that I could take the life of an innocent human. I'm going to go hunting now." I walked off, going into the woods.

**Alec POV**

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. Shouldn't have even brought that up._ I thought. I watched as she walked off, looking a little mad. I headed into my room to get a shower, deciding that I needed some alone time.

Jane was sitting on the chair when I came out.

"What's wrong, brother?"

"Bella and I just had a…misunderstanding." I said.

"I see. She looked kind of mad when she went hunting. What happened?"

"I may have told her that she is weaker than us since she doesn't drink human blood and that she might not be able to fight off someone as well as the rest of us."

She hit me on the back of the head. "Idiot. Why did you do that?"

"She claimed that she wasn't thirsty, even though she had dark circles under her eyes. So I told her that she would grow weak if she didn't hunt and that she was already weaker than us. I made the mistake by saying that and she got mad and went hunting just so that I would shut up."

Jane glared at me, obviously not happy that I said that to Bella. "You need to accept that she doesn't want to drink human blood."

"I have accepted it."

"Then you wouldn't have said that. Apologize to her. And not just a simple sorry. Do something romantic for her to show her how much you love her."

"Ok. I will." Jane left. I had to think of something to make it up to Bella. I could buy her something, but she wouldn't want me to spend money on her. That might even make things worse.

I sat in my room thinking of things and coming blank. I decided to call Emmett for help. I knew that he could help me. He was always getting in trouble. I called him.

"Hello."

"Hey, Emmett. It's Alec."

"Oh, hey. What's up?"

"Well, I seem to be in a bit of trouble with Bella. Let's just say that I told her something that, I guess, kind of offended her. And I don't know how to make it up to her. So I was calling to ask for some help."

Emmett laughed a booming laugh. "Well then, you called the right person."

"Yeah. I figured."

"Well, you could buy her something."

"I thought about that. Then I figured that she wouldn't want me to spend money on her and it might make things worse."

"True. Typical Bella. Maybe you could do something for her. What's something that she would really want to do? Take her somewhere or something. She'll like that."

I got an idea. I didn't really like it, but I was willing to try to make her happy. "Thanks, Emmett. I think I got an idea. Thanks for the help."

"Yeah. No problem. I'm always having to make it up to Rose. I'll talk to you later or something."

"Thanks. Bye." I hung up the phone with him and started to plan out what I was going to do for her. _I think it will work. I just don't know if I will like it._


	18. Chapter 18

**BELLA POV**

I started walking out to the forest to hunt. I wasn't thirsty, but it would make Alec happy. Jane walked by and said a quick hello, but I ignored it. I blocked everyone's thoughts out, too. I didn't want to listen to anyone at the moment and I just wanted to hunt and be alone.

I decided that I wanted to be alone longer, so instead of going out to the forest, I went to my car. I drove for a few hours at normal speed limit. It gave me more time to drive and think. I took a two hour drive to Milano. I had heard that there was a great population of bears there.

Once I found a good spot for hunting, far enough from civilization that I wouldn't be spotted and that I wouldn't accidentally be distracted by human scent, I parked the car and began my hunt.

I saw a momma bear and three little cubs. They were all sleeping. I snuck up quietly and lunged at the momma first. She was a bit of a struggle, as I had expected. She was probably trying to protect herself and her cubs. Plus, I hadn't really hunted anything larger than a deer since I became a vampire, so I was new to this.

I had sucked all four bears dry within an hour. Emmett would be proud. I would have to tell him later. I also had a few mountain goats. I probably over did it, but I needed to make sure that Alec wouldn't be pestering me about it when I got home.

After hunting I went for a walk. It wasn't sunny out, which I was grateful for. I found a path in the woods, where I saw a few people walking, as well. It must've been a park trail or something. I walked along the path for a while. I just thought about everything that was happening. I loved Alec to death, but if couldn't accept my diet choice, then I didn't know what would happen. I couldn't even think of it.

I looked at my phone seeing that it was almost 7. I should be getting home. I thought to myself. Once I got out of the way, I ran to my car. I pulled out my cell phone and called Emmett once I got onto the main road, driving at the speed limit again.

"Hey, Bells." Emmett answered.

"Hey, Em. Guess what."

"What?"

"Well, I went hunting in Milano today. I heard that they had a pretty large bear population."

"And?" He prompted.

"I got a momma bear and three cubs," I smiled proudly. "The momma bear was a bit irritable."

Emmett laughed. "Oh, Bella. I'm so proud of you."

I let out a small chuckle. "Yeah. I figured you would be."

"So, how have you been?"

"Ok. I've been great."

"Really? Because that's not what I heard earlier."

I gasped. "How did you know?"

"Alice, of course. And because Alec called. He didn't tell me what happened. He just told me that he said something that he probably shouldn't have. He needed help. I guess he thought that I could help him, since I am always getting in trouble with Rose."

"This is true, I hope you realize this."

"Of course I do."

"Yeah. He just said something that I really didn't like. So I just decided to go hunting. I also wanted to be alone for a while, so I took the two hour car ride. And I drove at the normal speed limit. I hunted and took a walk and now I am on the way home. I am still driving the speed limit."

"I'm sorry, Bella. Just remember though, it's not always going to be a happy day. Carlisle and Esme still argue. I know that it's hard to believe, but they do. So do Ali and Jazz and Rose and I. What exactly did he say?"

I sighed. I really didn't want to relive this, but I told him anyway. "Well, he noticed that I had a little bit of purpleness under my eyes. He suggested that I go hunt, but I really wasn't thirsty. He said that I would grow weak if I didn't and that I was already weaker than the rest of them. He also said that I might not be able to fight someone off as well as the rest. I told him that, while I am glad that he is concerned for me, that I just can't take the life of an innocent human. Yes, in a way it did offend me a little. But it really bothers me because it seems like he hasn't accepted this."

"I see. He seemed pretty torn up about it when I talked to him. I don't know what he's going to do. He had an idea, but he didn't seem too thrilled about it. Maybe he has accepted it, but it's just hard for him too."

"Yeah. I guess that could be true. Thanks, Em. It was great talking to you."

"You too, Bells. We all miss you. Well, most of us do. Edward not so much."

I laughed a little inside. "I miss you all, too. Well, except for one, of course. Did Alec tell you that we bought a house today?" I said with a more cheerful tone.

"No, he didn't. Congratulations. Where is it at?"

"It's in the country, a little bit. Only about a half hour away. But it's far enough away from people that we can go outside when it's sunny. And there is a large amount of wooded area with the property so I can hunt. We move in at the end of the month. You guys will have to come over sometime after we move in and settle down so that you can see it."

"I have no doubt that we will be. Well, I need to go. Rose and Alice are dragging Jasper and I out for a shopping trip. So, I will talk to you later. Bye, Belly-bear."

"Bye, Emmett." I laughed at the old nick name that he had given to me. I hung up the phone and starting pressing harder on the accelerator. If Alec had some sort of idea, I wanted to get back to the castle to know what it was.

I pulled into the long drive back to the castle shortly after I hung up with Emmett. I gave a quick greeting to Gianna and made my way to the throne room where Aro and my uncles were. I gave my uncles a kiss on the cheek and then moved to Aro and did the same.

"Bella, where have you been? Jane said that you looked angry and left." Aro gave me an odd look.

"Uh. Yeah. I'd rather not talk about it. I need to go find Alec."

"Alright then."

I walked out of the throne room to find Alec. He wasn't in my room or his. I checked the game room, but he wasn't there either. I ran into Felix on my way to the training room.

"Felix, do you know where Alec is?"

"No. He didn't say where he was going. He just said that he would be back soon. He said that he had some stuff to think about and that he wanted to be alone."

"Oh. Thanks, Felix."

"Yup. No problem, little sis."

I turned away, walking back to my room. _Where are you? I'm sorry for blowing up on you earlier. I just didn't want our good day to be ruined. Come home. I love you. -Bella. _I sent the text while walking back to my room to get ready. Guard was going to be long tonight. I was not looking forward to that.

I walked into the bathroom to get a shower. I was a little dirty from hunting and having to fight with that bear a little bit. With a towel wrapped around me, I walked to my closet to get some clothes. I decided on a simple green dress with some white pumps. I dried my hair and added a touch of make-up. After getting dressed, I grabbed my cloak and headed for the throne room.

I checked my phone and noticed that Alec had texted me back. _I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said that. I promise to make it up to you. I will be back after you get off. We can talk after my shift is over. -Alec_

I didn't text back after that. I figured that I should give him his privacy like he did for me.

I had my shift with Demetri and Jane today. Jane looked at me a few times with a sad look on her face. I wasn't sure why, then I remembered that I had ignored her earlier.

"Jane," I said as I approached her, "Jane, I'm sorry for ignoring you earlier. I was upset at something and I didn't mean to take it out on you. I just didn't really want to talk to anyone at that moment. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

"Bella," She grabbed me in a hug, "I understand. I don't blame you for anything. I was just a little hurt because I didn't know why you were ignoring me. But I understand now. I was never mad at you."

"Thanks, Jane." I returned the hug and gave her a small smile, which she returned.

Sure enough, my shift dragged on for what seemed like eternity. I started to walk to my room, but decided to go to the game room. I did go to my room first, though, to change into some jeans and a t-shirt.

Felix and Afton were in the game room playing football, of course. Afton was winning, but he was only up by a touchdown with 3 minutes left in the game.

"I play winner." I interjected.

"Well then, it looks like you're going to be playing me, Bells." Afton said, never taking his eyes off of the screen.

"Oh no you're not." Felix was about to make a touchdown to tie the game, but one of Afton's guys tackled him. Afton did end up winning.

"HA! I beat you!"

Felix, with a disgruntled look on his face, stalked out of the room. He wasn't very happy when he lost.

"Daddy," I hadn't even noticed that Ariana was in the room.

"Yes, baby?" Afton answered.

"Why does uncle Felix look mad?"

"Your uncle Felix looks mad because your uncle Felix is a sore loser." He responded.

"What's a sore loser?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow up.

"It means that he doesn't like to lose a game."

"Oh. Ok." She went back to playing with her toys.

"Ready to be the next loser, Bella?"

"Hmm. Ready to make you the next loser, yes." I replied.

Ten seconds left and I made the winning touchdown. "Ha! I told you that you would lose." Afton had the same look on his face that Felix had earlier.

"Daddy, don't be a sore loser." Ariana said, giggling.

"You tell him, girl." I said. She giggled again. I looked at the clock, seeing that Alec would be getting off of his shift in a few hours. I walked into my room. To pass the time, I started reading a new book.

Alec came in after a while. "Bella, can we talk?"

"Sure." I said, putting my book down and walking over to him.

"How about we go out somewhere so that we can get some privacy." I only nodded and got in his car. The car ride was silent, but when we pulled into an empty parking lot, Alec spoke.

"Bella, I know that I screwed up by saying what I said. I really am sorry. I wasn't thinking about how you would take it. I was only thinking about your safety and protection."

"Alec, I understand, and for that I'm grateful. But it just doesn't seem like it to me that you have accepted my diet choice. I can't take the life of someone innocent. I'm sorry for blowing up on you like that, but I was a little frustrated and hurt."

"I know. I have accepted it. It's just hard to understand, I guess. But I've decided to make it up to you. I'll try the animal, no-human diet. I understand that it's important to you and I want to make sure that nothing is going to be a barrier in our relationship."

"Really?" I was surprised beyond belief. "You'd do that for me?"

"Yes, I'll try it. I can't make any promises that I will like it or even stick to it. And I can't make any promises that I will be perfect at it or that I won't slip once or twice, but I am willing to try."

"Alec, I can't believe this. I am so happy now. I understand that you might slip once or twice, but just the fact that you are willing to try is enough for me."

"And I also know that I will need to have a better control of myself around humans once the kids come. I mean, yeah, I'm around Ariana, but not really enough for me to go totally crazy. But being around our kids all the time will require some more strength and control. So really, this is for you, me and our kids."

I was really happy for this. Now we wouldn't have anything causing conflict between us. "Thank you, Alec."

"Of course."

"I love you."

"I love you too." Alec and I kissed. He started driving back to the castle. Alec took my hand in his for the whole car ride. I was really glad that we had made up and talked about it. And I was happy that he was at least willing to try the animal diet.

When we got home, we walked in holding hands and smiling brightly.

"Alec, Bella. I see that you two have made up about whatever it was that you were fighting about."

"Yes, we have, Aro." I said.

"Well, I am glad to hear that." He smiled. I remembered something then.

"Father, when you asked when we were moving, you frowned. Why was that?" I asked.

"Well Bella, you have only been here for a short amount of time. I was surprised that you would only be here for such a short amount of time before leaving."

"Father, it is only a half hour away. You can visit anytime, of course. And we will be here often for Guard duty, as well."

"Yes this is true, Isabella. But you will still be missed dearly. Both of you will be."

"I understand, father." Alec and I walked off then. We decided to have a little alone time together.


	19. Chapter 19

"Bella," Alec and I were planning the wedding some more. "Yeah?" "What exactly are your feelings about the human diet?" "Well," I said, a little unsure of how to answer the question. "I still have human family and friends alive. And I still love them. I value their humanity. I know that it may seem a little hypocritical, but, I want them to stay human. I don't want them to be in this supernatural world. Yes," I sighed, "it would be great to have them with me for eternity, but I experienced too much stress with it. And, plus, it's really the only diet I knew. Obviously there is the human diet. But the Cullen's taught me better than that. I would rather help people, not kill them, like Carlisle. What about you? Why do you and the rest of the Volturi choose the human diet?" I asked. "Well, of course the human diet is much more appealing to us. But, that's not the only reason. You know Jane and mine's story. Humans were so...cruel to us. We hated the human race, even as humans ourselves. We think of it as pay back really. Honestly, I was quite surprised that Jane liked you so quickly. It took her a little over a year to get used to Gianna. She wouldn't even hold Arianna. Aro had to force her to even acknowledge her. Jane hates humans especially. She had to suffer pain the most. Not only were we beaten, but we were called names and such. Other stuff happened to Jane, too. It took her a while to trust any guy other than me." "Oh. Wow. I never knew that about her." I said, now feeling a little guilty about bringing up the subject. "Don't worry about it. She is starting to forget that part, it's been so long. Also, the other reason for our diet choice is, well, if humans knew of our existence, some of them, like you, would be ok with it. But others, not so much. They probably wouldn't think twice about trying to kill us. Or, attempting to, at least. The others have their reasons. Some simply because it's really all they know. We all hunt animals on occasion. But, humans are our main source of blood." "Will it be easy adjusting?" "No. Probably not. Not after it's been well over 500 years. It will take time." He looked at me, with a small reassuring smile on his face. "I guess I see your point. For you and Jane at least. I don't know about the other members. I didn't know what else had happened to Jane." I said in a whisper. "It took her some time. I was the only man that she could trust for a while. She couldn't even look any of the guys in the eye. She was really jealous when Chelsea came and met Afton. She saw how they were and wanted a man to treat her how he treats Chelsea, but she didn't think that she could. Then Felix came and her whole world changed." Alec seemed to be reflecting on a memory. I decided not to watch the memory play in his head, thinking it as personal.

"Alec, I also see your point about some humans not thinking twice about trying to kill us. That's not going to make me change my mind though. I don't care what it is, I ma not going to turn to a human diet."

"I'm not asking for you too, Bella. As long as you are happy, I can be happy." He caressed my face and gave me a chaste kiss on the lips. "How about we take a break form the wedding. We still have plenty of time. Do you want to go practice some more with your powers?"

I nodded. I changed into some other clothes and we headed to the training room. I was getting better at using my powers. Alec helped me is using and controlling his power, while Jane and Demetri helped me with theirs. Alice showed me how to control my future-seeing ability. It was still difficult for me to control my visions. Visions would come randomly and I was still getting the hang of watching for things. A few times I had seen the weather. That one would always come in handy with us since we couldn't go out in the sunlight.

After a few hours of training, Jane and I left, going into her room. We hadn't gotten to spend a lot of time together lately. We were both so busy with guard and the wedding and our various activities.

"So, did Alec talk to you about what happened?" She asked.

"Yes, he did."

"What did he say?"

"Basically, that he knows that he screwed up and he was only thinking about my safety and protection. He's going to at least try the animal diet. Not just for me, but for when the kids get here, as well. He understands that he will need better control of himself when they get here."

Jane nodded. "I'm glad that he is doing this. It's good for him to have someone else to think about and to care for."

"What do you mean, Jane?" I was a little bit confused by her comment.

"Well, for a very long time, pretty much since we came here, he has cared about three things. One: me. Two: his place in the guard. And three: himself. But now he has you and then the kids will come. He's so much more caring now. He isn't as selfish anymore and he considers other people. Bella, you've changed him for the better. And he has this new spark to him. I haven't seen him this happy in my entire life.

"He used to just, kind of, mope around here. He was always so lonely. He had everyone here, but there was always just something missing. And that was filled when you came here. He's so much happier now. Everyone here sees the difference that you have made in him."

"Have I really made that much of a change in him?" I asked. I couldn't believe that he hadn't been happy before I came here. I thought that he was always this happy.

"Yes, you have, Bella. Felix and Demetri would always get so annoyed with him. Alec almost felt like I was the only one in the castle that didn't get annoyed. They would beg him to get out of the castle more and find a mate."

I laughed a little. I wasn't surprised that it would be Felix and Demetri to get annoyed at him. Especially Felix. He wasn't always so patient and he easily got annoyed.

"Yeah, I could see them doing that."

"Bella, you have done nothing but good for him. And, as you know, the future for the both of you looks great with that family and all. Even if he doesn't stick with the diet, or he slips a few times, at least he tried. And you have made him so happy. This will be a good thing. He has changed only for the better and it's all thanks to you."

"Jane, you're a great sister." I engulf her in a hug which she quickly returned.

"And you're great too." She said back. "I couldn't have asked for a better person than you to be his mate. And you're a great sister for all of us. We all love you."

"Jane, can I ask you something?" She nodded. "Alec and I were talking and he said that you had difficulty dealing with humans. He mentioned that Aro had to force you to even acknowledge Ariana at first. But he said that he was surprised that you got along with me so quickly. What makes me different from all of the other humans?"

""Like I said before, if Alec is happy, then I am happy. I have gotten better with humans and how to deal with them. Ariana gives me a lot of practice," she laughed. "I knew that you couldn't be of any harm to him. I saw a different look on his face when he saw you first time. He looked happy. That's all I ever wanted for him, was to be happy."

Jane and I hung out for the rest of the day. It was nice to have a day where I could just hang out with her and talk about girl stuff. Jane was best friend. We connected so well and we had gotten along from the beginning, much to everyone's surprise.

We watched a few movies and I let her do a Bella Barbie on me. Well, I was more like forced to do it, but silently endured the torture. Memories and flashbacks came to me, remembering Alice and I in her large bathroom and over-sized closet. A few memories would make me chuckle. Jane would ask what I was laughing at. I would reply with a 'nothing' and she would give me an odd look before continuing with what she was doing.

I loved my life here in Volterra, even if that did mean having to give up my friends and family. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.


	20. Chapter 20

It's moving day. That past month has been kind of crazy. Wedding plans are coming together and it's drawing nearer and nearer. It's only a few more months until Alec and I are married. As for Alec and the new diet for him, adjusting hasn't been the easiest thing in the world for him. But it's going well, nonetheless. His eyes have started to change into a golden-brown color. Mine are still red, of course. They will be for a while until the rest of my human blood has completely left my system.

Alec and I were just finishing packing the rest of our things to load into the cars. I would miss my room, but I was excited to move into the new house. Alec and I were going to go to the store later to get paint for the house. Alec walked in to get the last few boxes of my stuff. We loaded the last of things into the cars before heading to the throne room to say goodbye to everyone. J

ane tackled us both. "I'm going to miss you guys so much."

"We'll miss you too." Alec said, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"We are going to miss you both a lot. Your short stay with us was a good one, Bella." Aro said.

"Yes it was," I replied. "But we'll be over often, of course. And you guys can visit whenever you like too."

After saying goodbye to everyone, Alec got in his car and I go in mine. We backed out o the long drive and started heading for our new home. It was a bittersweet moment. I was sad that I was leaving the castle so soon, but I was ready to start a new life with Alec. Now we could have more privacy and a new sense of independence. It would be nice once we had a family of our own. I wondered if this was how Chelsea and Afton felt like when they moved out.

I saw Alec turn onto the familiar road leading to the house and I followed behind him. The house was secluded enough and far enough away from any other houses or people that Alec and I could hunt freely. We traveled down the long drive surrounded by wooded area. I saw the house come into view and a smile was plastered onto my face at the thought of our home. Alec met me at my door and opened it for me.

"What's the smile for?" he asked.

"This is our home now." I replied.

"It is," he said. He gave me a kiss on the lips. "Come on. Let's get my car unloaded so that we can go get paint and stuff."

We unloaded his car, putting the boxes in the garage for now, seeing that it looked like it was going to rain. I parked my car in the garage and we left shortly after.

"Have you been able to see anything about the kids yet?" Alec asked in the car.

"No and I don't understand why. I can only get visions us certain things like us walking to the adoption agency, but not us walking out. Or us shopping for things like car seats and cribs, but nothing like clothes to determine the sex of the kids. It's very frustrating."

"Well, maybe we shouldn't find out just yet. Maybe we should just let it be a surprise."

"It's not even that. The thing that frustrates me is the fact that I can't see anything past that. It's like there are holes in the visions or something."

"Maybe the shield has something to do with it. Why don't you talk to Carlisle or Alice?"

"Alice doesn't understand either. Carlisle doesn't think that it's something to worry about in this situation, but it might be important in other situations where I need to fully rely on my visions."

"We'll worry about it when we need too. Have you tried it with other things?"

"No. I guess not. I suppose I should, though. What would I try it with?"

"I don't know. Maybe something that doesn't have to do humans. Could that be the problem, since your not completely in tune with them? Isn't Alice like that a little bit too?"

"Perhaps. I hadn't thought about that. I'll have to try it. I just want to figure this out before something happens and I can't get a clear image of something."

We arrived at the store shortly after. We headed for paint first. We would do that tonight so that we could get that out of the way and unpack once it was dry. We decided to paint all of the rooms except the other two bedrooms. We would wait until we knew more about the kids until we did the nurseries. The fourth bedroom would be an office.

It was very warm inside, making the human scent stronger. I noticed that Alec looked a little uncomfortable. "You can go outside if you need to." I told him.

"No. I'm fine." I gave him an unbelieving look.

"Really. I am." I still wasn't convinced, but I let it go. He would go if he needed too.

After finishing there, we went to the furniture store. Picking out furniture was a challenge. There were so many different options. After an hour and a half of deliberation, we finally decided what bedroom and living room furniture that we wanted. The rest was easy after that. We were told that our furniture could be delivered in 5 days.

We went home then, wanting to get the painting over with. With our vampire speed, it took little time. We knew that we would have to wait until the paint dried to unpack, and since Alec and I didn't have guard for the next two weeks so that we could settle in, we decided to take a trip to Verona for a few days to hunt and shop. Alec still wasn't thrilled with the diet, but he was getting better.

It was late by the time we got there. We could've gotten there earlier, but Alec drove the speed limit, giving us more time together. We checked into our hotel and hung out until the sun came up. We got an early start on our hunting so that we could be clear of humans.

"I liked the mountain lion. That might be my favorite." Alec said.

"That's Edward's favorite, too. Mine is bear, just like Emmett."

"Have you told the Cullens that we moved?"

"Yeah. I did the day that we bought the house when I talked to Emmett. I told them that they would have to come visit sometime before the wedding."

"They will have too. Have you talked to them lately?"

"No, I haven't. Not on the phone, at least. Only though texting. I'll have to call sometime."

"How are things with Edward and Tanya?"

"Better. We haven't been able to talk really, but we're ok with each other. We don't hate each other and I don't hate Tanya either. We are kind of close. Not as close as I am with Alice or Rose, but we're still friends. I know that you and the guys get along well."

"Yeah. They're cool. How about, once we get completely settled in and everything, we invite them over."

"That would be great, Alec. I miss them. I'll have to call them when we get home."

"You ready to go shopping?"

"Yeah. Let's go." We got into the car to do some more shopping. Both of us got a few clothes, but we mostly bought things for the house. We didn't get a lot, but we were going to make a few more stops on the way home tomorrow.

After shopping and putting our things in the car, we walked around just taking in the city. When stores started closing and the number of people started to dwindle, we headed back to the car and went back to the hotel.

"Have you tried looking for something else yet?"

"Yes. I tried to look at the Cullens coming over. As far as I can tell I can see everything. But I can't be sure."

"Well, aren't Alice's visions based on the decisions that people make?"

"Yes. Hers are subjective too. Her visions can change."

"Ok. What if you can't see anything else about the kids because we haven't made a decision about what we want."

"Hm. Sounds logical, I guess."

"Do you know what sex you want? Both boys, both girls, or one of each."

"I don't know what I want. I guess I'm waiting until I see them. I want the perfect child. Have you thought about it?"

"I am fine with whatever you want. I'm on the same boat as you. I don't want to get the first one that I see. I want to get the one that seems right for us."

"Me too. I love you."

"I love you too." He gave me a lingering kiss on the lips.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and started for home. We were driving at vampire speed. We wanted to get the shopping over with so that we could go home and unpack everything.

"You know that we are going to have to get used to driving the speed limit once the kids get here."

"Yeah, but only when they are in the car." He smiled at me.

"Alec, I swear that if I ever catch you speeding with them in the car that they will never ride in a vehicle with you driving."

We were on the highway when we saw that the traffic was heavy. Alec had to stop the car for a few minutes. Slowly, very slowly, we started moving. As we got closer to what was causing the traffic jam, I got a huge whiff of blood. Human blood. A lot of human blood. We saw the flashing lights ahead and an ambulance passed us.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Alec gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"Are you ok?"

"Fine." He looked angry. But that could've been from trying to control himself. His eyes started to grow darker and he continued gripping the steering wheel.

"Alec, be careful," I reached out fro his hand to make it loosen on the wheel, afraid that he was going to snap it off. "You're going to snap the wheel off if you don't loosen your grip. Just try not to breath." He let out a long breath and let go of the wheel.

"Do you want me to drive?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Ok. Let's just go home then."

"You don't want to shop?"

"No. We already have enough stuff for now. We can always come back."

Once we got a few miles past the accident, Alec seemed ok.

Alec got in the shower to relax while I started to unpack. Since we didn't have any furniture yet, there wasn't a whole lot.

Thinking back, I remembered the conversations that we had about my visions. I would have to talk to Alice and Carlisle, maybe even Aro our theory that we came up with. I would also need to invite the Cullens over.


	21. Chapter 21

I called the Cullen's the next morning. Esme answered. Carlisle was working and everyone else was at school.

"Well it was nice talking to you, Esme. Could you have Alice and Carlisle call me when they get home?"

"Of course. Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure. We think there might be a blocker or something on my visions."

"Oh. Yes I will have them call you once they get home."

"Ok. Thank you. I will talk to you later."

"Bye."

After hanging up, I went outside to enjoy the nice weather. I was still amazed by the sparkling that my skin made in the sunlight. Alec was back at the castle to pick up a few more things that we had left there. I stayed home so that I could make the phone call and finish unpacking.

Alec came home as I was putting dishes in the cabinets. We kept up the human charade with dishes and other things. I'm sure that Ariana will be the only human here, at least for a while, but we would need them once the kids were here. Plus, it made the house feel more complete.

"Did you call them?" He asked.

"Yes. Esme answered. Carlisle is at work and the rest of them are in school. Esme said that she would have them call once they get home."

"Did you ask Esme about coming over?"

"No. I figured I would once I could talk to Alice and Carlisle."

"Hm. Aro says hello. And so does everyone else. They want to know when they can come visit."

"How about after the Cullen's. And if we find anything out about my visions, we can tell the counsel then."

"Sounds good. I'll tell them once you find out when the Cullen's will be coming."

"Alright."

We finished unpacking what we could. We wouldn't have any furniture for a few more days, but we cuddled under a blanket on the mattress in our bedroom. About half way through, my cell phone started ringing. Carlisle was on the other end of the line.

"How is the new home?"

"It's great. That was one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. We were wanting to know if you all would like to visit in the next couple of days."

"That sounds wonderful, Bella. When would you like us?"

"Well, anytime after Thursday, if that's ok with you guys."

"Sounds perfect. I'll have someone make the flight arrangements. Is there another reason you wanted to speak with me?"

"Actually there is. I think Alice might be able to help too. It seems that I can't get certain parts of a vision. Like with the visions about the kids, I can't see anything that might have to do with gender. I can't see shopping for clothes or calling their names. And I can see us walking into the adoption place, but not out. Alec and I were thinking that I might have a block of some sorts on my visions."

"Hm," he mused. "It does seem like it, although we can't be sure. I don't think that Alice has ever experienced anything like that. I could ask her when her and Jasper get back from hunting. But I can do some research. We can check on you when we come down there. Have you told the counsel about it?"

"No. We wanted to wait until we saw you and Alice. To see if we could figure anything out first."

"Yes, I will look into it. Have you got any other theories?"

"I don't. But Alec thinks that maybe it's because we haven't decided on the sex of the kids. We briefly discussed it, coming to the conclusion that we want the children that seem right for us, not just based on sex. He also thinks that it's probably a good thing that we don't know yet. It keeps things more exciting."

"Those are both good theories. Maybe your visions are a little more like Alice's than we thought."

"Perhaps." I sighed. I just wanted to know the reason for my visions not coming in completely. "But it worries me that, if the problems are directly tied to the children, that I won't be able to watch their futures completely."

"Bella, you can't always rely on your powers."

"Yeah. I guess I need to work on that."

"Yes you should. I will try to do as much research as I can and we can check some stuff out when we come in a few days."

"Ok. Thank you, Carlisle. We'll will see you soon."

"Goodbye. Rosalie just told me that we will be flying in Saturday morning. We'll see you then." We hung up.

I felt better after talking to Carlisle about the issue, but I wouldn't be completely ok until I was sure that nothing was wrong. It was going to be really frustrating if I couldn't see everything. Not to mention the things that could go wrong if I wasn't able to see it.

"Was that Carlisle?" Alec asked from beside me.

"Yeah. They're coming in on Saturday morning."

"What did he say about your visions?"

"He said that he would do some research. He would check it out when they came. He isn't sure what the reason could be."

"Did you talk to Alice?"

"No. Her and Jasper are hunting."

"Oh. We'll get this figured out."

Thursday came. The guys from the furniture store came and delivered our stuff. Alec and I spent part of the day rearranging furniture. The rest of the day and evening we spent hanging things on walls and putting things in their right places. The house was finally finished and complete. It felt nice to have a home of our own. It felt complete for now.

I talked to Aro earlier in the day. He said that they would be coming to see the house in a few days, after we had gotten to see the Cullen's. They were happy that we had gotten a place of our own. Not that they were happy that we moved out. But they were glad that we would be having a family soon and that we were happy together.

The Cullen's arrived on Saturday morning. Everyone made their rounds of greetings and made some small chatter. They loved the house and Alice was already declaring what she was going to design the kids rooms like.

Alice, Carlisle and I went into the bedroom. Carlisle had done as much research as he could, but he didn't find much. Alice seemed to agree with Alec in that maybe my visions were a bit more like hers than we thought. They told me to keep looking out for the kids to see if I could get anything else. That seemed like it was the only thing we could do for now.

The girls and I went shopping. I drove my car with Alice in the front with me. Esme, Rose and Tanya were in the back. The guys stayed at the house to watch a football game. It was nice to be able to catch up with the girls again. Talking to them was easy.

A thought swept across my mind and I wondered how Charlie was doing. I wanted to know, but I wasn't sure if I was prepared to hear what could be going on with him since I left. I decided to ask anyway.

"Do you guys know how Charlie is doing?" I asked.

Rosalie answered, "Bella, he's worried sick about you. He hasn't stopped trying to find you. Renee and Phil have been staying with him for a few weeks to help in the search. He misses you and he thinks that you might be in some sort of danger."

"And they have no plans of stopping." Alice interjected.

I felt guilty for what I did. I left him without the decency of a good-bye or a warning. I left a note for that. And now he was out searching for me to make sure I was safe and that I would come home. But I didn't want to go home. Home was here, now in Italy with Alec and the Volturi.

"How is Alec doing with the diet?" Esme asked.

"He's still getting used to it. We went to a store to get some paint. It was kind of hot in the store and I could tell that he was uncomfortable. I told him to get some fresh air but he stayed with me. And then we were on the way home and there was a car accident. There was a lot of blood and the smell was overpowering for him. He almost lost it there. He was gripping the steering wheel so hard that I thought it was going to break off."

"He'll get it. It just takes time. Jasper hasn't had human blood since we came here and he's still trying to adjust." Alice said.

We pulled in to the mall. We shopped for a few hours before deciding to head back home. The guys were playing a racing gamewhen we walked through the door. Emmett was winning, of course. When the race was over, he proceeded to jump up and thrown his hands up in victory. The girls and I proceeded to roll our eyes before heading upstairs to the bedroom.

The rest of the evening and night was filled with friendly chatter and games. Emmett decided that he wanted to play Quelf. This would be fun. Edward ended up winning. Some of the things we had to do were ridiculously random. Emmett had to pretend to be a cowboy trying to save a beached whale with his ostrich. It was hilarious.

All too soon, though, the Cullen's had to leave. I enjoyed having them here. They were always welcome, of course. They promised to visit again and said that we were always welcome to visit them in Boston, where they were currently residing.

Alice promised to keep an eye on Charlie and Renee for me. I wanted them to be safe. I wish they would stop searching for me. I told him not to in my letter. I know they did it because they cared, but I didn't want them to waste their time and energy. I couldn't see them anymore. It hurt that I couldn't see them anymore, but I don't think that I would go back after having this new life. Had I not left, I wouldn't have found Alec and I don't think that I could live without him.


	22. Chapter 22

The counsel, along with Jane, Felix, and Renata were going to come over on Monday to see the new house. We would also be discussing my visions with them. Aro seemed quite surprised when I told him that I needed to speak with the counsel regarding my powers. The thought of not being able to completely see the future of the children once they were here was a little bit frightening. If something were to happen and I couldn't prevent it, I don't know how guilty I would feel. The thought was nerving. And with the wedding fast approaching, we were hoping to get things figured out quickly.

Alec and I weren't exactly sure of when we were going to adopt the kids. We had discussed it briefly. We came to the conclusion that we wanted at least a couple of months before adopting. That would give us some time as a married couple. Then we would go through with the process when we felt ready to and after we had some sort of idea of what was going on with my visions. Alec was just as worried as I was about it.

"Have you thought about what you're going to tell them about your powers? Or about what we are going to do about them?" Alec asked.

"No. Not entirely. Why?"

"Well, I don't know if you have figured this out or not about Aro, but he is the one that tends to think about things too much, too in depth. He'll probably jump to conclusions of the worst possible case. And he also worries about things too much sometimes. That might be a problem. If he thinks that there is something that could potentially harm the kids, then he might try to discourage us from adopting."

"Really?"

"It's possible. He wouldn't want too. Nor would he _make _us not adopt. He just wants the kids to be safe. He wouldn't want us to adopt if he didn't think that we were in enough control to be around humans for long periods of time."

"Are you going to be in enough control?"

He sighed. "I think so. I hope so. I'd hate to think of what would happen if I didn't have the control."

"It's ok, Alec. It will just take some time to get used to. You just need to be around humans more often. What's the longest that you been around Ariana?"

"48 hours. Just when Chelsea and Afton go hunting out of Volterra. Ariana stays at the castle, of course. Chelsea and Afton are never gone for more than two days, though."

"How about she stays here for a few days. Then you could get used to it a little more." "Do you really think that's a good idea?" "Yeah. She could stay with us for a few days. Let Chelsea and Afton go on a little vacation or something."

"I don't know. You'll have to talk to them about it. They're pretty protective over her."

"Of course we would talk to them first. We could talk to them when they come over on Tuesday."

"Ok. If you think that it's a good idea." Alec didn't seem too sure, or thrilled for that matter, about Ariana coming over for a longer period of time. He loved her, of course. She was his niece. But he had only been with her for 48 hours at a time. That would be enough time for the scent to become too much for any other vampire, but since he was used to her scent, 48 hours wasn't enough to make the craving too horrible. This, I thought, would be good for him. We would be able to see how much restraint he had. He wouldn't have a choice when our kids were here. He would be with them 24/7. Maybe he would have more control with them if he got used to it now.

A knock on the door took away from the conversation.

"Who could that be?"

"I don't know. I'll get it." Alec went to the door. I could hear from the kitchen that it was two teenagers, one a boy and the other a girl. They had gotten lost in the woods. I could hear the brief conversation that Alec was having with them, giving them directions back to where their car was parked at the local high school. They gave a 'thank you' and left. Alec walked back into the kitchen. He was taking long and slow breaths and his eyes were starting to turn black.

"Too much?" I asked.

"Slightly." He said.

"Do you want to go hunting?"

"Yeah. After those teenagers get a good distance away from here. Will you go with me?"

"Of course. You know, it's February 3rd. The wedding is only four months away and we still have a lot to do. We don't even have the invitations started. You still need to get a suit too."

"Ok. How about we start on the invitations after we get back from hunting. And we can get suits for me and the guys on Wednesday."

"Ok. What day do we have to go back for guard?"

"Monday."

For the next half hour we watched TV. We went hunting once I couldn't read the minds of the teenagers and I had a vision that they had gotten back to their car and left. I had taken down two deer. Alec got four. We decided to walk back to the house at a human pace, not caring how long it took to get back home.

We started on the wedding invitations and guest list. There were a lot of invitations that needed to be addressed. We had a lot of people on the list plus everyone at the castle.

"Did you still want your human friends to be there?"

"Oh," I had forgotten about that. "Yeah, of course. Is that still ok with you?"

"Anything you want, Bella." I gave him a small smile. I wasn't sure if he really was ok with the idea or not. I was surprised that Aro had said yes to me inviting them. I only hoped that they would be able to keep the secret. Things, obviously wouldn't go well if they didn't keep our existence a secret. I just needed to make sure that they knew not to tell anyone about me or where I was. I slipped a note in the invitations for Jake, Quil, Embry and Seth telling them not to tell anyone anything about me. I trusted that they wouldn't. I slipped the invitations with the rest where we would keep them until sending them out.

After having that done, everything was almost done for the wedding. The guys still needed to get suits, but that was going to be done on Wednesday. The girls needed to get final dress fittings. And of course there were the last minute things. But almost everything was done, which made me happy. One less thing to stress over.

"So, where are we going for the honeymoon?" I asked.

"I was thinking Greece, maybe."

"That sounds lovely."

"And it's a lovely place."

"I'm sure it is."

The counsel, Jane, Felix and Renata arrived just after 3 on Monday afternoon. They loved the house, just as the Cullen's did. They were getting ready to leave when I asked the counsel and the wives to stay. Jane, Felix and Renata went back to the castle.

"What is it, dear Isabella?" Aro asked with an inquisitive tone and facial expression.

"Well, it may seem that my visions may be more like Alice's than we thought. That, or, there is some sort of shield on my visions." I stated.

"What do you mean?"

"I cant seem to get nay visions that may have to do with seeing or finding out information about the kids. I can only see us walking into the adoption building, not out. I cant get a face or any physical picture of them. I cant even get a vision of us shopping for things like clothes to get genders. All I can get is that there will be two kids and they are in cribs, car seats and diapers."

"Hm. That is interesting. Do you know why?"

"No. we talked to Carlisle. We have a few theories."

"And those theories would be?"

"We think that they may be more like Alice's than we thought. That they're subjective. Maybe the reason we cant see anything regarding the sex is because we don't even know whether we want boys, girls or both. Another theory was that my shield had something to do with it. That's all we got."

"And what did Carlisle say?"

"He tried to do as much research as he could. He didn't come up with much. Nothing, really. He just said to keep watching them. I'm just worried that if the problem is directly tied to the kids themselves, that if something were to happen, I wouldn't be able to see it."

"Yes, I suppose that could be a problem. I guess my advice would be the same as Carlisle's. Just keep watching. That's the best we can do right now. Do you have anything to add, Brothers?" Caius shook his head. Marcus didn't have anything to add either. "Well then, that's all I can say right now. We'll be going now. The house is lovely. Good-bye."

After they left, I collapsed on the bed and let out a loud "Ugh!"

"Bella, what's wrong?" Alec plopped on the bed next to me.

"I am so frustrated! Now I know how Alice feels sometimes."

He rubbed my back. "Bell, we'll get this figured out. It might take some time, but it will get solved."

"That isn't very reassuring."

"I know that it might not be right now, but you can't just expect things to be fixed in one day. It's going to take time."

I sighed in defeat, knowing he was right. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Why don't we just chill out tonight? Cuddle on the couch and watch a few movies. Chelsea and Afton are coming over tomorrow with Ariana. We can talk to them about her staying here for a few days."

"Ok."


	23. Chapter 23

Afton, Chelsea and Ariana came over the next afternoon. After playing for a while, Ariana fell asleep in Chelsea's arms. She laid her down in the bedroom.

"Hey Chels, Afton. Could we talk to you about something?" Alec and I took a seat on the love seat while they occupied the couch.

"Yeah, Bella. What's up? Lovely house, by the way."

"Thanks. Alec and I were talking yesterday. And the topic of our conversation somehow turned into his control once we had our kids here. I suggested that he should be around humans more often and thought that it would be a good idea if Ariana stayed here for a few days while you guys went on a vacation or something. It would give Alec the chance to get more used to human blood being around and hopefully build his restraint level."

"Alec has been around her before, though, for an extended period of time." Afton stated.

"Yes, but only for 48 hours at a time. That's enough time for a vampire to go crazy, yes. But since he is so used to her blood being around, it's going to take longer than that for it to start to make a difference in behavior."

"I see your point, Bella," Chelsea said. "I'm ok with her staying here for a few days. And we could use the free time to ourselves. Afton?"

"I'm ok with it. As long as she is safe then I have no objection to it."

"Great. So when will she be staying with us?" I asked.

"How about Alec just takes her on Thursday after guard. I'll take her with me for the day. And then she can stay until the next Sunday. So that is about a week and a half. That should be enough time, right?"

"Yeah. That's plenty of time. Plus, we don't want you to be away from her for too long."

"Of course. Thank you Bella and Alec. We have been wanting to get out for quite some time now."

"I'm sure you have."

A small voice came from the doorway. "Mommy." Ariana rubbed the sleep away from her eyes.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm thirsty. Can I have some juice?"

"Ariana, aunt Bella and uncle Alec don't have any juice. How about some water?"

"Ok." Chelsea got up to get her some water.

_Bella, my daughter better be safe. _Afton thought to me. I gave him a small nod.

Chelsea came back in, handing the cup to Ariana and sat back down on the couch. "Ariana, you're going to stay with Bella and Alec for a couple of days."

"Really, mommy?" She was really excited.

"Yup. You're going to go to work with me on Thursday and come home with Alec and stay here for a few days."

"Why?"

"Because mommy and daddy are going to go on a vacation."

"Oh. But I'll miss you."

"We will miss you to, but we'll be back. I promise."

"Pinky promise?"

"Yes," she laughed. "Pinky promise." She held out her pinky and Ariana took it with hers. "Are you ready to go home?" Ariana nodded and they left.

"Bella, where is she going to sleep?"

"In our bed. We don't need it."

"And food?"

"We buy it at the store."

"Do you know how to cook? Because I sure don't."

"You're forgetting that I am only two months old to this life. And that my father could not cook. But I can. Any other questions?"

"Yeah. What are we going to do with her for a week and a half?"

"Well, she's four. It's cold so nothing outside for too long. Take her to the aquarium, watch movies. Go shopping. I don't know. The kind of stuff that a typical four year old girl would want to do."

Alec and I had to go back to work on Monday. It was good to get back. Ale brought Ariana home with him on Thursday. She was asleep when they walked in the door at 5:30. Alec put her in our bed.

"How long has she been out?" I asked as he was walking out of the bedroom.

"Not long. About 20 minutes."

"You got home kind of late. Like a half hour late. That isn't typical of you."

"Well, Ariana didn't want them to go. She spent a half hour saying goodbye. She finally came to me once they told her about how much fun she was going to have here. She cried herself to sleep about ten minutes into the car ride."

"Well, I'm sure that she'll forget about it once she wakes up. Has she eaten?"

"No. I suppose that she'll be hungry when she wakes up"

"Give her another 45 minutes to sleep. Then she can eat."

I woke her up to eat. I pulled the chicken nuggets out of the oven as she sat down.

"What are we going to do while mommy and daddy are gone?" She asked as she sleepily ate her food.

"What do you want to do?" Alec asked her.

"Can we go to the park?"

"No. It's still too cold for the park."

She frowned. "Oh. Can we watch princess movies? I love Cinderella."

"Yes, we can watch princess movies. Do you want to see the fish at the aquarium tomorrow?"

"Yeah! Can I get a stuffed animal fish?"

"Yes, you can get a stuffed fish. Now hurry up and eat so that you can get your bath. And go to bed."

Ariana finished her dinner quickly. After her bath, she wanted me to read her a book before putting her in bed. She fell asleep half way through _Green Eggs and Ham._

I left for guard after she was sound asleep. I gave Alec a kiss before leaving.

I got home before Ariana woke up. She woke up around 8 and ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast before getting ready.

The three of us left for the aquarium. Ariana really enjoyed seeing all of the fish. "Look, aunt Bella. Look, uncle Alec. It's Nemo." She giggled pointing at the clown fish.

"Yes it is." I said. "And there is Dory."

"Can we watch Nemo before bed tonight? Pretty please?"

I couldn't deny her with the puppy dog eyes that she was giving me. "Of course we can."

We left the aquarium after buying a stuffed animal. Ariana fell asleep in the car after the long day. She woke up once we got home. She ate dinner and got into her pajamas while I made popcorn for her. The three of us sat in the living room to watch the movie.

The next day was spent chilling at the house having a lazy day. We got snowed in and couldn't leave the house. Ariana insisted that we watch princess movies all day. I think that we watched pretty much all of them, with the exception of Snow White. We did it again the next day. Finally, on Sunday, I told her that we had to do something else. When she suggested a board game, Alec and I were both happy that we didn't have to watch anymore movies. Especially princess movies.

After she went to bed on Monday, I went to the castle for guard. Aro asked how things were going. I replied, "Good. I don't think that his eyes have really started to even change colors yet." When I got home, I asked how he was.

"Fine. The temptation isn't overpowering. Maybe it's because I'm so used to her blood, but I thought that I would start to get thirsty by now."

"See. I told you. It just takes a little time. And it has only been a month. Once the kids come you'll have enough restraint so that they can be safe."


	24. Chapter 24

When Sunday came, Chelsea and Afton came to pick Ariana up. Alec was at the castle. Chelsea and Afton and I chatted before they left to go home.

"Was she behaving well?" Chelsea asked.

"Yes. Very. Not once did she talk back or anything."

"Hm. Why can't you be like that at home?" Afton said looking down at Ariana.

"Did you have fun, Ariana?"

"Yeah. Mommy, Daddy, we went to the aquarium and I saw Nemo and Dory. And aunt Bella and uncle Alec bought me a stuffed fishy. I saw lots of fish. They were so colorful. And then we watched princess movie for two days in a row! And we went shopping, too. Alec let me have ice cream for dinner. Oops. I wasn't supposed to say that." She covered her mouth with hands as if it would stop the words from coming out. "He said not to tell you or aunt Bella."

"It's ok. I'm glad that you had fun." Chelsea laughed. "But I think that it's time we got you home. So you and daddy should go get your bag packed."

"Ok. Come on, Daddy." Ariana grabbed Afton's hand and pulled him upstairs. Once they were upstairs, Chelsea and I talked about their trip. They had gone to a small island off the coast of Africa where the Volturi owned a house and part of the island.

"The trip was great. We haven't had any real alone time for a while. It was nice to not have to worry about guard or Ariana for a few days. How did Alec do?"

"Really well. He said that the temptation came, but that it wasn't too overpowering. He handled everything just fine."

"Good. I'm glad. He's going to need the restraint."

"Yeah. That's why I suggested we do this in the first place."

Ariana and Afton came down then, Afton carrying her bag with him and Ariana carrying her fish in her hand. "Look, Momma. This is the fish I got at the aquarium."

"That's a pretty fish. Are you ready to go home?" Ariana nodded. "Ok. Give Bella a hug and what do you say for letting you stay here."

"Bye, Bella," she engulfed me in a hug. "Thank you for letting me stay here."

I returned the hug. "Of course. You're welcome anytime."

After they left, I cleaned up the aftermath of Ariana being over for a week and a half. I stripped the bed and washed the sheets. I stuck the dishes from lunch and breakfast in the dishwasher. I hung out at the house, waiting for Alec to get home, reading a book to pass the time. Alec came home after a while and we talked a little bit about how the week went. He felt really good about the week. He felt more confident, too.

"I feel a lot better about the whole thing. I think the only thing we really need to worry about now is the visions." Alec said.

"Yeah. I still don't know about that. We really need to figure that out. I mean, if it's something minor then we can deal with that. But if it's major then I don't know what to do. I don't want something to happen to the kids because I can't see what's going to happen in their future." I was dry sobbing by now, tears unable to produce because of me being a vampire.

"Hey, Bella," he pulled me into a tight hug. "Bella, we will get this whole thing figured out. So what if they fall and get a scrapped up knee because you aren't able to prevent it. They are going to be kids. And kids get hurt sometimes. We have plenty of time to figure all of this stuff out. So don't worry about it right now."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean, we aren't always going to be with them. They'll start school or go to the castle or something and won't be there. We still have a wedding to plan."

"See, I told you. You have nothing to worry about right now. Let's focus just on the wedding right now."

"Alright."

"Oh, and Aro wants you to come early tonight. He needs to speak to you about something."

"What does he need to talk about?"

"I don't know, but I don't think it is important."

"Ok. I guess I'll leave in about an hour. I'm going to get a shower and get ready now." I went into the bathroom and got a shower. After that, I wrapped a towel around me and dried my hair before applying some makeup to my face. I walked into our bedroom and decided on a purple dress with black heels for the day. After giving Alec a kiss goodbye, I left to go to the castle.

"Aro would like to see you in his office, Princess." Gianna told me as I walked in.

"Thanks. And, please, call me Bella."

"As you wish." she smiled and I returned the gesture.

I knocked on Aro's before entering. He told me to take a seat and he began, "Hello, Bella. How did the week go with Ariana? I assume that it went well."

"Yes, it did father. Really well, actually. Alec says that he thinks he's ready, control wise, for kids once we decide when to adopt."

"Good. Do you know why I wanted you in here today?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, Bella, as you know, the wedding is coming up shortly. And I just wanted to know how the plans were coming. Do you know where it will take place?"

"We decided on the east garden for the wedding. That one is my favorite. And we want to have the reception in the throne room, if at all possible."

"That sounds wonderful. Of course, you may have the reception in the throne room. Have you figured out your honeymoon plans?"

"Yes. We want to go to Greece for two weeks. We needed go talk to you about getting off for those two weeks."

"Yes. We will find someone to take over your shifts. So you guys have not decided about the time of adoption yet?"

"No. It will be at least a few months or so. We want some time as a married couple first. We also want to see of we can get some more information about the problems I have been having with my visions."

"Hm. Yes, that is understandable. We can't wait for the newest editions to come."

"We can't either."

"Well, Bella, that is all I wanted to talk to you about. You are free to go to your shift."

"Thank you, father." I walked out of the office and headed to the lobby where there was a group of tourists. I led them into their death and quickly ran to the basement of the castle where there were two vampires being held. They had tried to reveal our secret, which was really the only rule that we had. Don't give out our secret.

Their eyes were black and they were starting to grow week due to the lack of blood. Both of them would be dead tomorrow. Felix would be taking care of that along with Demetri. They were the ones that most looked forward to the executions. Jane just liked to torture the victims. While I was against the human diet, I sought justice for the vampires who broke the law. I hadn't had to execute anyone yet, but I would eventually.

I finished putting their info into the computer. We needed to keep track of who we had in case someone came here looking of them. Also, the counsel wanted a yearly count. Why? I don't know, but I had to do it. I went into the throne room after I had things done downstairs and knew that everything was done and cleaned up in the basement. I took my stance in my spot as Jane left to fulfill her duties in another part of the castle. I left the castle around eight in the morning. As I was getting ready to leave, I passed Jane, who was probably going back to her room.

"Jane," I called. She turned to me. "Do you want to go shopping with me?"

"Right now?" she asked.

"Yeah. We haven't hung out in a while."

"Sure, Bella. I'll just go change. Do you want to borrow something to change into?"

"No thanks. I have some clothes in my car." We walked into her room. Felix was in there and Jane and I went to her closet and to the bathroom to change. We both settled on jeans. She picked out a dressier top and flats while I decided on an old University of Washington t-shirt that I had and some black converse. I let my hair fall down and ran a brush through it.

"You're dressed down today." Jane noticed. "What's up with that?"

"I don't know. I just kind of wanted to wear some of my old wardrobe today, I guess. It's more me."

We got into my car and drove to the Coach store first. I bought a purse and a pair of shoes. Next, we headed for a mall just outside of Vienna. While we were on our way there, Alec called me.

"Where are you, Bella? I thought you got off at eight."

"Oops. I guess I forgot to call you. Jane and I are out shopping."

"Oh. So when will you be home?"

"I'm not sure. We're on our way to the mall outside of Vienna. So it'll be a few hours."

"Ok. I love you."

"Love you too," I hung up the phone and pulled into the mall a few minutes later. We shopped for a while, buying clothes and shoes and makeup. We went to the food court to just sit and talk. It had been so long since we had gotten to really sit down and just talk.

"How was Ariana?" she asked.

"She was good. Alec says that he thinks that he's ready to adopt once the time comes."

"That's good. I'm happy for you guys. How's the wedding coming?"

"We just got all of the invitations addressed. We just have to send then out now. I talked to Aro about the wedding and reception. The wedding will be in the east garden and the reception will take place in the throne room. I just can't believe that it's almost here."

"Yeah. It comes up fast. Wait until the day of. Then it won't seem real." "I don't doubt that." We got up and headed for the car to go home. I dropped Jane off at the castle and went home.


	25. Chapter 25

**Bella POV March**

I pulled into the driveway when I saw Alec come out of the woods. He must've gone hunting. We went into the house. I changed out of my work clothes and into some jeans. Alec and I decided to go see a movie. We hadn't been out since we moved in and we needed to get out.

I turned on the radio. It seemed like no matter what I turned on, Alec didn't like it. I turned the radio to a station that was playing Kesha. "No. We are _not _listening to _that_," he said.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

"Bella, I hate to say this about you, but, you have terrible choice in music."

"Why?"

"'Brush my teeth with a bottle of jack?' Cause that sounds lovely." he said with a sarcastic tone and gave me a weird look.

"I like that song."

"Whatever." he rolled his eyes.

We pulled into the theatre and bought our tickets. The movie was ok. I didn't think that I would want to see it again. Of course, I wasn't really into action movies like Alec was.

We went home and Alec had to go to the castle for guard. At home, I took a small hunting trip and did some laundry. I made sure that we had all of the wedding invitations ready. We were done with planning the wedding except for the last minute things. Jane was going to host a bridal shower in a few weeks.

Chelsea and Afton were going to Verona to get a few things that the Volturi needed and were going to gone for a few days. Ariana was going to stay with us tonight and tomorrow night. I made sure the bed was made and went to the store to get some food. Alec would be bringing her home tonight.

With every item that I put in the cart, I was disgusted with the smell and sight of it. Looking back at my human life, I didn't know how I ate the stuff. It was repulsive to me now. I put the Lucky Charms into the cart and remembered that it had been my favorite kind of cereal when I was a human. I couldn't even think about eating it now.

I put the groceries away when I got home. Alec and Ariana were walking through the door as I stepped out of the shower. I got dressed before greeting them. Ariana wasn't feeling well. She had allergies and wasn't her normal self. I made her some soup and a peanut butter sandwhich, but she didn't eat much. Chelsea and Afton didn't want to go with her being sick, and Aro said that he could get someone else to go, but they insisted that Ariana only had allergies and that she would be fine. The spring weather was what triggered the allergies. She got a warm bath and I gave her the medicine that Chelsea had given me. We put her to bed.

"Will she be ok?" Alec asked.

"Yeah. It's just allergies. The medicine should help her sleep tonight."

"Alright." I kissed him goodbye and left for the castle.

I was in the throne room. The doors opened and Felix and Demetri brought a guy in. He was a human drinker. He was roaming the streets, finding people to drink off of. He would lure them to an alley and kill them there. Problem: there were apartments in the allies and people could see what he was doing. He kept begging Aro not to kill him. He claimed that he didn't know about the rules. Aro asked if he wanted to join. He considered it for a moment before saying that he didn't even want to be a vampire. Aro killed him. Felix and Demetri took the pieces of his body to burn them. I went downstairs to start the fire and help them make sure that every piece of the vampire was burned.

I went home to Ariana eating some cereal and a banana. She seemed to be feeling a little bit better than last night. She finished eating, brushed her teeth and got dressed. I pulled her hair back with a head band. It was nice outside and she asked if we could go to the park. I had to tell her no because she was sick. She was upset about it, but let it go when I told her that we were going to go shopping after lunch. I loved spoiling my niece.

She ate her lunch a few hours later. We headed to the mall. She still wasn't feeling great, but she felt better. Shopping would probably cheer her up a little bit. We headed to the first store. She got a shirt and a skirt. I had to get some clothes, too. I didn't have any summer clothes here. I didn't get a lot. I still hated shopping, but not as much as I used too. That was probably due to the fact that I was a vampire now and I didn't get tired, nor did my feet start to hurt.

"Aunt Bella," she said from the backseat.

"What?"

"Can we go to the park tomorrow?"

"You'll have to ask mommy and daddy. I'm not sure what time they're picking you up tomorrow."

"Ok."

Ariana fell asleep shortly after we got home, tired from shopping and still being sick. Chelsea called asking how she was. I told her that she was a little better. They said that they would be back tomorrow morning.

Alec and I were just chilling. I put my things in the closet. Alec put his few items away, too. We laid in bed just talking, something we hadn't done in a while. "Did you talk to Aro about getting two weeks off for the honeymoon?"

"Yeah. He said that was fine. He would find someone to take our places. He said that the throne room was fine for the reception, too."

"Ok. Are you nervous?"

"No. I get to marry you. Why would I be nervous?"

He chuckled and pressed his lips on top of my head. Ariana came in then, asking if she could have a snack and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. I let her have some fruit snacks and some juice. She watched TV, not wanting to do much of anything. For dinner, she had some pizza. I gave her more medicine and sent her off to bed after she brushed her teeth.

"I'm bored." I looked up from the magazine that I was reading. It was almost 3 o' clock in the morning.

"Ok. What do you want to do? We can't leave the house."

"Can we play Black Ops?"

"You want to play Black Ops? You, Isabella Marie Swan, want to play Black Ops?" I nodded. "Do I need to show you how?" I nodded again. "Ok." He got the Xbox ready and handed me a controller. He told me how to play and explained what all of the buttons did.

We ended up playing until about 7:30 when Ariana woke up. She looked and sounded much better than she had before. She ate some cereal and drank some milk. Chelsea and Afton walked in at 8:30. Ariana jumped from the table, running up to them yelling, "Mommy, Daddy! Can we go to the park later? Pretty please?"

"Well, you seem like you feel better. We'll see. I think that it might rain later. Now, go finish your food." She came back into the kitchen and sat down at the table to eat while the rest of us went into the living room. "She seems better."

"Yeah," I said. "She was feeling a little bit better yesterday, but not much. She didn't have much of an appetite, either. She woke up just fine this morning."

"Good. Spring is always a fun season with the allergies." Chelsea said sarcastically. They left shortly after that.


	26. Chapter 26

**Bella POV April**

Jane was throwing a bridal shower today. Alec went hunting with the guys so that us girls could have the castle to ourselves. The counsel was there, of course, but they were on the other side of the castle. The wives were going to join us too. Alice, Rosalie, Tanya and Esme were going to come, but they couldn't make it due to bad weather. Their flight was cancelled. I left the house behind Alec. Jane was waiting for me at the gate when I got to the castle. I was barely out of the car when she grabbed my hand and dragged me inside to her room.

I hated parties and I hated attention. Most of all, I hated parties where all of the attention was on me. So I asked Jane if we could just hang out. No extravagant games or anything like that. I told her that I didn't want any gifts, but Jane refused saying, "If you won't let us play games then the least you can do is let us have gifts."

There was only a small amount of food. That was for Ariana obviously. And there was a cake. Of course, Ariana was the only one that was going to be eating it. Ariana ate and the rest of us just talked. When she was done eating, we opened gifts. I didn't get the things that most people would get at a wedding shower. Being a vampire we didn't need things like kitchen utensils. Jane handed me her gift and winked. I didn't like that gesture. It meant there was probably something in here that I was going to be embarrassed about. And of course, I opened the box to see a lot of lace.

"That's for the honeymoon." Jane said.

If I were a human, my face would be bright red. "Thanks."

I opened the rest of the gifts. The worst came from Jane. For the rest of the night we all just hung out. Afton came over around 6 to pick up Ariana. They went home. After she left we could do other things. We watched The Hangover. Then we watched The Proposal. We talked about pretty much everything.

Jane, Heidi and I had to leave for guard. We put all of the gifts into my car and got changed. guard went fairly quick. Jane and I were in the throne room with Demetri.

_So, Bella._

_What, Demetri?_

_Did you have a good wedding shower?_

_Yes._

_That's good. What kind of stuff did you get? Anything for Alec?_

I knew what he meant. I rolled my eyes. _Pervert. You should be thinking that about Heidi._

_What? I just asked a question._

_Wouldn't you like to know._

_Well, did you?_

_Yes, Demetri, I did. Happy now that I answered your question?_

_Yeah. I bet that he'll go crazy over you. Are you guys staying somewhere on the honeymoon? You better make sure that the building is strong enough to handle you guys. Heidi and I crumbled a few houses and abandoned hotels._

_Demetri! I really don't want to know about your's and Heidi's sex life!_

_Fine, fine. I just thought that you should know. Just remember what I said._

Aro noticed our exchange. He had an odd look on his face and decided to know what was going on. "Demetri, your hand please."

Demetri smirked at me and held his hand out to Aro. After a moment, Aro took a step back. "Well, that was awkward." He walked away. Poor Aro had to hear that conversation.

I went home. Alec was watching a game on TV. I sat beside him. He asked how the shower was. I said that it was good. His hunting trip was good too.

"How was guard?"

"Eh. Stood in the throne room. Listened to stupid vampires beg to live in the basement. Had an awkward conversation with Demetri. Same as always."

"Awkward conversation?"

"He's a pervert. I'll leave it at that."

"Oh. Ok."

"He said that we need to make sure the building is strong enough to handle us on the honeymoon."

"Oh. Yeah. That's sounds like something he would say. Felix would say that too. Actually, they both told me that on our trip. Perverts." he muttered under his breath.

"Pretty much. What do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. Do you want on a walk or something?"

"Sure. Let me just go change into something else." I changed clothes and put on some tennis shoes. I met Alec at the front door. We held hands as we walked through the woods. We didn't say much. Each other's presence was enough. That's one of the reasons I love Alec. We didn't have to say anything to occupy ourselves. We were content with being with each other. We would say the occasional 'I love you,' but that was it. It was more peaceful without the chatter.

We made a circle and went back home. Alec helped me put the gifts away. He went to open the box with the stuff from Jane but I grabbed the box out of his hands quickly. "What was that for?"

"You can't see that."

"Why?" he was clearly confused.

"Not until the wedding night."

"Is it sexy?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Define sexy."

"Anything that you wear."

"Isn't that a little bias? Considering I am your fiancée."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Then maybe you won't see it."

He frowned. "That's just mean."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

My phone rang. Alice was on the other end of the phone laughing uncontrollably. "Did you see that whole conversation?" I asked.

"Yes! That was mean. I saw the exchange that you and Demetri had too. I don't know what you guys were saying to each other, but it looked pretty awkward, according to Aro."

"Yes. It was. I'm sure that Emmett would have joined in on it too if he were here."

"Oh. That _does _sound like an awkward conversation. Edward agrees with me. Oh, sorry for not getting to come to the shower. All of the flights in and out of Boston were cancelled because of the horrible storms that we have been having."

"It's ok, Alice. I understand. That juts give you guys more time to play baseball, right?"

"We haven't played yet. The guys are getting impatient. The hospital has been busy so Carlisle has been working a lot."

"That's too bad. I'm sure the guys are really wanting to get out. Rose too."

"Yeah. Emmett is so bored. Jasper is too. And you know how they are when they get bored. At least Edward has his piano and Rosalie has her cars to work on."

"What about Esme?"

"She's just tired of all of us being bored. We all need to get out and play."

"How have you guys been? It's been so long since I've talked to you guys."

"We've been good. Bored lately, but good. How about you guys? The wedding plans are coming together, I hope."

"Yeah. We've been good. Really, all we have to do now is send out the invitations and some of the last minute stuff. Other than that, things are coming together. I can't believe that we have less than two months to go. It doesn't seem like it has been that long." Alec gave me a kiss. He was going to the castle.

"When did you get there?"

"You guys left in the middle of September. I came in the middle of November. We got engaged right before the ball."

"You guys got engaged that quickly?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. You guys must have a really strong bond or something."

"That's what Marcus said. He's never seen a bond as strong as mine and Alec's."

"You are special. I mean, the strongest bond to Alec. Plus, you're the most powerful vampire known and Princess of Volterra. Gosh, Bella. Where do you have time to do anything else?"

"I don't sleep. Duh. Vampire, here." we both laughed. We hung up shortly after that. I went online to book the flight tickets for Jake and the guys in case they wanted to come to the wedding. I printed them off of the computer and stuck them in the invitations. I really hoped that they did come. I missed my friends. They were the ones that at least tried to keep me happy while I was depressed after Edward left. I wanted my family to be there too, but that wasn't going to be possible. I needed as few people to know where I was as possible. If they didn't come, that would be ok, but I really wanted them too. Then I could at least have a connection to them and know what was going on with Charlie and Renee.

Alec said that the grieving gets better after a while. Edward had said that too. I wasn't so sure. This was the one thing that I didn't like about becoming a vampire. I had to give up my family and friends. I would probably hear about their deaths from people or online. Or I would see it in a vision. I wouldn't be able to attend their funerals. I couldn't introduce myself as their daughter because of the age I looked and because everyone would expect me to be dead or something.


	27. Chapter 27

**Jake POV End of April**

I just got home from Charlie's house. The search for Bella was still on. It had been almost 6 months that she had been missing and there were still no leads. We had been nonstop in the search for her. All we know is that she ran away and doesn't wasn't us to search for her. Whether she was still alive or not I wasn't sure. I could only hope for the best.

She said in her note not to look for her, but we weren't giving up until we found her. Her mom and step-dad, Phil and Renee, moved down here when they heard she had gone missing. They were at Charlie's house everyday to help in the search. Charlie, being the chief of police, you would think that he would easily be able to find her, but she left no traces behind. All we know is that she emptied out her college fund and left a note saying that she wasn't in the States and telling us not to find her. That's what hurt the most for me. Not that she was missing or even that she could be dead, but that she didn't want to be found.

I had always loved Bella. We had known each other since we were little. Even though she was two years older than me, we still had a really good friendship. We drifted apart after a while. We didn't get to see each other that much since she was living in Phoenix and only came to Forks for two weeks during the summer. When she moved back, I was really happy and I hoped that we would get our relationship back to how it was. But then she started dating Edward and we drifted apart again. Once he left, Bella was so depressed and it hurt to see her like that. We started to hang out again and she started to get happy again. Quil, Embry and Seth were in a group with us. Billy and Charlie declared us as the 'Five Best Friends of La Push.' I really thought that she was happy. When the letter that she left said that it wasn't Edward's fault, I didn't believe it. I knew the kind of damage that he had done to her, and for that I hated him. I swore that if I ever saw Cullen again that I would kill him for what he did to Bella.

Billy was still with Charlie. I came home to get some rest. I had been out six 6 o' clock yesterday morning and I was exhausted. Even though I was a werewolf and could stay up longer than a normal person, I still needed to sleep. Sam had us running long hours since she had gone missing. I grabbed the mail out of the box and scanned it to see if there was anything for me. I came across a fancy looking envelope with my name on it. There was no return address so I had no idea who it could've been from. I opened it to find some sort of invitation. The initials A.V. and B.S. were on the front. Seeing the initials made me think of Bella. I wasn't sure who this was from or what it was, but I didn't recognize the initials on the front. I opened it to see what it was.

It was a wedding invitation with a fancy script on it. I read it quickly and my eyes widened at the name on the paper. 'Bella Swan' was written in the fancy script and it said that she was getting married to some guy named Alec Volturi. I almost choked on the sandwich that I was eating. A few pieces of paper fell onto the table. I looked to see what they were. I found plane tickets, four of them, and a note. Immediately, I recognized Bella's handwriting.

_Hey Jake. It's Bella, as I'm sure you already figured out from the wedding invitation and my crappy penmanship. Anyway, I am alive and I am well. I live in Italy and I am engaged to a wonderful man, Alec. This invitation and the plane tickets are for you, Quil, Embry and Seth. I really hope that you guys can come. You'll fly in the day before the wedding and stay at my house. Your flight back home leaves the next morning. If you do come, there are some things that I will need to tell you about myself. I have changed a lot. I hope that you are accepting to these changes. Also, the only people that can know about this is you and the other guys. No one else can know my whereabouts. That would be very bad for them and I don't want anything to happen. Tell the other guys and only them. I miss you, Jake. I miss the others too and I miss Charlie and Renee. You were my best friend and I can't forget you. That's the only thing that I regret about running away to Italy is that I had to leave you all behind. I miss you a lot. Please come. It would really mean a lot and I want to see my best friends again. I still remember the day when Billy and Charlie declared us as the 'Five Best Friends of La Push.' I miss those time that we all had together. I'm sitting here thinking about everyone while I write this. I know that I told Charlie not to search for me, but I'm sure that he is. I guess that only means that he cares and still loves me. I really hope that you guys come. I know that I already said that but I mean it. Bye, Jake._

I saw a tear fall onto the letter as I read it. I was happy that she was alive. I was happy that she was happy. I needed to call the rest of the guys to tell them about this. I called Seth first. He was so excited. Bella was like another older sister to him. I called Quil. He was with Embry.

"Hey, guys. You'll never guess what I just got in the mail."

"What did you get, Jake?" Quil asked.

"A wedding invitation from Bella."

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. It's for me, you two and Seth. Don't make any plans for June 2nd, 3rd and 4th."

"Where is she? We need to tell somebody."

"No, no, no. We can't do that." I said quickly.

"Why?" Embry asked.

"Because she left a note and the plane tickets in the invitation. She doesn't want anyone to know about this other than us four. She said that it was really important that no one else knows. She said that it would be very bad and she doesn't want anything to happen to anyone."

"So where is she at?"

"Italy."

"She went all the way to Italy? She is a smart girl." Quil said. "Did you already tell Seth?"

"Yeah. He knows everything."

"Jake, how are we going to keep this from people? I mean, the rest of the pack especially. It isn't exactly easy to keep your thoughts to yourself."

"Well, the four of us are on patrol together so that should give us time to think about it since no one else will be patrolling with us. Otherwise we just have to be extremely careful with our thoughts. And we'll have to come up with some excuse to be off of patrol for those three days and come up with a plan. We can meet up with each other once it gets closer to the wedding."

"Yeah. That'll be hard getting away from Sam. And trying to explain where we're at and why. We'll need a good plan."

"Yeah. That's going to be the difficult part. But we'll figure something out. Just make sure you don't slip in a thought when there are other people phased or slip up in conversation."

"We won't. Bye, Jake."

"Bye guys. I'll call you guys with a day to meet up and plan some stuff. Please tell me that you guys have passports."

"Yup." they replied at the same time."

"Good. I'll talk to you guys later." I hung up and stashed the tickets and invitations in my room where nobody would find them. I showered and went to bed, thinking of Bella and getting to see her again.


	28. Chapter 28

**Bella POV June 1****st**

We only had a few days until the wedding. The past six months have flown by so fast. It was incredible to think that long had gone by already. Looking back on the past couple of months, I was surprised that I had done so much. Becoming a vampire, becoming Princess of Volterra, going to Paris and getting engaged. Getting married in just two short days. And knowing that there would be new additions in the future was going to be another thing that we would go through.

Jake and the guys were supposed to be flying in tomorrow. I saw a vision that they would be coming and for that I was happy. Not only could I see them again, but they could have some peace knowing where I was and that I was safe. I could also find out about Charlie and Renee and the search for me.

I came off of my shift and went home. I continued thinking about the time spent the last few months. There were the good times like when I woke up from my transformation and Alec and I went on our first hunt. It still felt exhilarating to run at vampire speed. Of course, Alec and I did have our smalls fights. We fought about small things usually. We fought about what color to paint the kitchen and what kind of bed sheets we wanted. Things like that were usually resolved in a few minutes when one of us- usually Alec- gave up in the cause and let the other one have what they wanted.

I got home. Alec was in the shower getting ready to go hunting with the guys for a few hours. The girls wanted to take me out too, but I had things to do like clean the house and go to the grocery store before the guys got here. Once Alec left, I started on laundry. I went to the store and picked up things that I know they liked.

I had to think of how I would tell them that I'm a vampire. That would probably be difficult. I hoped that they would except it and not freak out and run away. Most people probably would regardless of if it were their friend or not. Aro asked me if I wanted him to be there when I told them. I said no because I wanted to do it on my own. I knew that Jake had loved me and so I would be surprised if he freaked out.

I put all of the food away and finished the laundry. I could see the tiny dust particles on things and decided to dust, too. I made sure the guest rooms were made up and there were fresh sheets on the beds. Things got straightened up and I finally deemed the house ready for the guys. As long as nobody came over with Alec after hunting then the house would stay clean.

Alec came home around 5:30 the next morning and thankfully he was alone. I really didn't want to clean the house again after Felix or Demetri came over. Who knows what they would do when they were here. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes. I got a few mountain lions for you." he smiled and gave me a kiss.

"I'm glad."

"When are the guys going to get here?"

"Their plane comes in at one. Gianna is picking them up from the airport and bringing them here and is going to be here around two in the afternoon. So in a few hours."

"Did you go to the store and everything already?"

"Yes. Everything is ready. Now we just have to wait for them to get here. I think I'm going to go for a run while it's still dark outside. I'm running at a human pace if you want to come."

"I think I'll stay here. I have some things to do. I still have to finish packing for the honeymoon. Did you finish packing?" "Yeah. I did that last week. You are such the procrastinator, Alec."

"Yeah, but that's why you love me, right? "Sure, whatever. I'm leaving now." I ran until the sun was starting to peak over the horizon. I headed home before I was able to be hit by it and draw attention to myself.

For the next couple of hours I waited for Gianna to get here with the guys. I was nervous and excited to see them at the same time. I couldn't sit in one place for very long. I was pacing the house the entire time waiting for them. Alec tried to get me to do something with him that would make me sit still and distract me, but that wasn't going to work.

"Bella, what is up with you? You can't sit still for more than a few minutes. What's up?" concern laced his voice.

"Nothing. I just don't like sitting for very long is all," it was a poor excuse and he knew that I was lying. He raised an eyebrow.

"Isabella Marie Swan, what is wrong? I know that you're lying."

"I'm just nervous. I don't know how to tell them about us and I'm kind of worried that I'll scare them off or something. I'm kind of afraid of their reaction to everything."

"That's what has you pacing the house like this?" I continued pacing as he talked. "Bella, stop and look at me." I stopped and turned to look into his eyes. He grabbed my hand and leaned in for a short kiss. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure that they will react fine. They'll probably be so happy to see that you're safe and alive that they won't have time to worry that we're vampires."

"You really think that?"

"Yes, I really think that. Now, why don't you go ahead and get a shower so that you can be ready when they get here. I'll get a shower after you. Have you hunted lately?"

"No. not since last week. I guess I should do that quickly. You go ahead and get a shower while I go hunting. Then I will get ready."

I hunted for about an hour. I saw that it was 12:30 so I went back to the house to get ready. I showered and dried my hair. I got dressed into khaki pants and a blue top. I put on a little bit of make-up and some jewelry. I looked at the clock. They would be here in five minutes. Alec and I sat on the couch waiting for them.

I could hear a car pull into the driveway. Alec gave me a reassuring smile before the doorbell rang. I got up to answer the door. I waved to Gianna as she drove away back to the castle. I couldn't believe that I was looking at Jake, Quil, Seth and Embry when I saw them. All four of them had grown since I had left.

"Jake."

"Bella."

"Oh my gosh it's really you." I wrapped him in a hug along with the others. "Please, come in. You can just set your bags by the stairs for now if you'd like." They came in and set their things down. I directed them into the living room where Alec was. "Jake, Embry, Seth, Quil, this is my fiancée Alec."

"Hello. It's nice to finally meet you guys." Alec shook hand with the boys and we all settled down to talk.

"Bells," Jake started. "What the hell happened?"

"I was so depressed for two months. You guys helped to stitch up the hole that had formed inside of me but it wasn't enough. I still wasn't happy. So I decided that life wasn't worth living anymore. Without Edward, I was nothing. So I left."

"But why Italy? And why didn't you tell anyone? Do you know how worried your parents are? They have an entire search party out looking for you everyday."

"Yes I'm sure. Guys, what I'm about to tell you may freak you out just a little, but please don't run away screaming it out to the world. With this one phrase I can explain a lot so I just need you guys to stay calm."

"What is it, Bella?" Seth was always the eager one.

I took a deep breath before saying it. "I'm a vampire."

"We know." Embry said.

"What? You knew this already?"

"We knew that coming up the driveway. The smell is quite repulsive to us. No offence" Quil stated.

"How did you guys know this already? You could smell me coming up the driveway? How is that possible for a human?"

"Because we're werewolves." Alec started chocking. Could vampires chock?

"Werewolves? You guys are all werewolves?" the four of them nodded. "Is that why it smells like dog in my house?" they nodded again. "Well, that was easier than I thought it would be."

"So now that we have our mythical creatures sorted out, why did you come here?"

"Uh, Bella, I have to go. I'll talk to you later." Alec got up to leave for guard.

"Ok. I love you," After he left I told the boys what happened. "The Cullen's are vampires. Some things happened and Edward left. He said that it was too dangerous for me to be with him since I was a human. He had told me about a family in Italy call the Volturi. He described them as the vampire royalty and the vampire law enforcers. When I thought that I couldn't live anymore, I decided to go to them. I knew that they would ask whether I wanted to die or become a vampire. Edward refused to change me. I chose the immortality option since I had wanted that from the beginning."

"And here you are today."

"And here I am."

"What happened with Edward? Why did he leave you?"

"Over Spring Break when I went to Phoenix because I wanted to get away from Forks, that wasn't the truth. Edward took me with his family to play baseball and we met some human drinking vampires. One of them was a tracker and wanted my blood specifically and wouldn't stop until he got it. I ended up in the hospital because of injuries that James had given me. He bit me and left this scar on my wrist. Edward sucked the venom out before I could far enough into the transformation.

"One my 18th birthday, I was at his house for a birthday party. I got a paper cut and shed one small drop of blood. Jasper was the newest to the "vegetarian" diet and lost control. He tried to attack me but Emmett and Carlisle grabbed him and Edward pushed me out of the way. A few days later, he broke up with me and left. He said that it was too dangerous to be together and he didn't want to put me in anymore danger. I later learned that he had cheated on me, too. He was going to leave me but didn't know how. He saw the events as a good excuse to leave."

"Wow, Bella. That's why you were so messed up after he left. When did you find out that he cheated?"

"I wasn't changed until about a week after I came here. A few days after I changed there was a ball to introduce me, not only as the newest Volturi member, but also because I am the most powerful vampire in the world and so the Counsel called me Princess of Volterra. The Cullen's were there. Emmett told me and Edward apologized for his actions. So did Jasper."

"Do you still talk to them?"

"Yeah. We're really close still. Alice is going to be one of my brides-maids. What about you guys? You're werewolves. How did that happen?"

"When vampires are near that triggers a gene that only some of the tribe members get. The Cullen's being so near and then some red-head stalking around, we got the gene."

"Red-head? Was her hair long?"

"Yeah. But she just kind of disappeared. We haven't seen her for a few months. All traces of her are gone."

"She was James' mate. Her name is Victoria. You can stop searching for her because she's dead. The Volturi killed her4 a while back. She was probably trying to get to me or the Cullen's. How's Charlie and Renee? Alice said that Renee and Phil moved back to help search for me."

"It isn't good, Bella," Quil said. "They haven't stopped since the day you left."

"Sam Uley, the pack leader, has us all running patrols to find you."

"I told him not to search for me. I even told him that I wouldn't be in the U.S. anymore."

"He knows. But they want to find you, to make sure that your safe. Your their daughter."

"Yes, I understand that. Are you guys hungry? I could make you some dinner."

Embry smiled. "Bella, look at us. We're _always _hungry."

I made them some dinner and they went to bed after we just sat and talked for a few hours. I loved that I could see them and that it wasn't so bad telling them what I am. Tomorrow was the wedding and now I'm nervous about that. Alec called during the night and we talked about tomorrow. Both of us were excited to finally be married and start the next chapter in our lives.


	29. Chapter 29

The boys woke up around 7:30. I made them some breakfast and we talked, catching up. "How has life been, Bella?" Quil asked as he ate his waffles.

"Good. It's been a little crazy with the wedding planning and guard everything."

"How did you know about this place? I mean, how did you know about the Volturi?" Jake asked.

"Edward. He told me Carlisle's story. He said that Carlisle had lived with them for a for decades."

"Were you changed immediately after you got here?"

"No. I waited about a week before changing. Alec was appointed my guard for the week. He just had to make sure that I had everything I needed and took me out to dinner every night. Jane had to take me shopping because I didn't bring much with me when I left. How did you guys get? How did you escape?"

"We were extremely careful with our thoughts. We can all read each other's minds in wolf form. We couldn't think about it then. We kind of just left. We left notes for Sam and our parents. We'll probably get killed when we get home, but it will be worth it. Will the Cullen's be at the wedding?"

"Yes. Alice is one of my bridesmaids. We need to head over to the castle around 10. So you guys might want to get ready. You don't have to dress up now. You can just take those clothes with you when we leave and change at the castle. Feel free to shower and use anything in the bathrooms that you want, too." The guys got showers and so did I. We headed for the castle once we were all ready. I went into my room and they went with the rest of the guys in Alec's room to hang out.

"Bella!" Alice had attacked me in a hug. The Cullen's arrived earlier that morning. "It's your big day, Bella! Aren't you excited?"

"Yes I am." I laughed and let go of her small body. I got a round of hugs from everyone before Jane and Alice pushed me into a chair in the bathroom to start getting me ready.

Alice started on my hair, curling it and putting into a side pony tail. Jane did my makeup and it was perfect. The other girls got ready doing their own hair and makeup and getting into their dresses. Ariana looked absolutely adorable in her flower girl dress. Esme and Rosalie helped me get into my dress while the rest got into theirs.

"Bella, you look so beautiful." Esme commented.

"Thanks, Esme."

There was a knock on the door. Aro walked in with Marcus and Caius following behind him. "Bella, my dear, you look absolutely stunning." Aro gave me a kiss on the cheek, as did my uncles. "The ceremony is about to begin. I suggest the rest of you all take your seats." People left, leaving only Aro, Jane, Alice, Chelsea, Heidi, Ariana and I in the room. I looked at the clock. Less than five minutes until I would meet Alec at the end of the isle and become his wife. We walked into the hallway outside of the garden where the wedding would take place. It was a nice day. It wasn't going to rain until later tonight when we were at the reception. It wasn't sunny, but it was still warm.

Music began to play and I knew that we were beginning. Ariana started off down the isle, basket of flower petals in hand, and scattered them across the ground. Jane and Felix followed her and took their places at the front. Alice and Santiago went, then Heidi and Demetri and Chelsea and Afton. The music changed and I knew that it was mine and Aro's turn to walk down the isle. Aro gave another kiss on the cheek before taking my hand in his and walking down the isle. I saw Alec's face break out into a huge smile once he saw me. For a moment, I forgot about everything else except him.

We finally made it down the isle. Alec said his vows to me with such truth and love in his voice. I said mine that way, too. We exchanged rings and were pronounced as husband and wife. When he kissed me, it was filled with more love than he had ever put into a kiss. We turned to the congregation and were congratulated with claps and whistles. Various pictures were taken before we headed to the throne room for the reception.

The humans, Gianna and Ariana, and the wolves ate their dinners while us vampires drank from champagne glasses of blood. Jane, being the maid-of-honor, did a toast to Alec and I.

"Alec, you've made a lot of great decisions, but I think that marrying Bella was the best thing that you have done for yourself and for this coven of vampires. Bella, you're a great person and you have made a wonderful addition to our family. We wish you both the best."

Alec and I mingled for a while, talking to the other covens at the wedding. It was soon announced that Alec and I were to have our first dance together. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Mrs. Volturi."

"So where are we going for the honeymoon? Where at in Greece?"

"Well, we won't actually be in Greece. The Volturi own a small island a few miles off the coast. The only time we can go onto the main land is at night because it's so sunny there. But we get the whole day to ourselves."

"That'll be nice."

"We have to leave for our plane around 2:30 to get to the airport and get through security and everything tomorrow morning. Jane already packed your stuff and has clothes for you to change into. Once we land, we'll take the boat to the island and do whatever we want."

"And Jane is going to drive the boys to the airport, correct?"

"Yes."

"You know what this whole thing means?"

"What's that?"

"Well, we're married now. So we'll have a family soon."

"But when? When do you want to do that?"

"I figured we could wait a couple of months or so. Then we could have a while to ourselves as a married couple and get things settled in. I just don't want to do it right away."

"Ok. That sounds good."

Aro cut in. "Bella, it's time for the father- daughter dance." Alec placed my hand in his and walked away. "Isabella, I'm proud of you. You've accomplished many things over the past couple of months."

"Thank you, Father. I'm really happy to be a part of the Volturi."

"Well, we're glad that you're here, too. You've been a great addition to this family. And the newest additions will be loved just as much as everyone else here. Have you decided on when that would take place?"

"No. not on an exact date. But it will be a few months, at least. We want to have a few months as a married couple before worrying about kids."

"I understand. Well, we cannot wait until they arrive." the song ended and Aro walked off to talk to others.

I danced with Jake and the other boys for a little bit. I danced with the Cullen boys and the guys from the Volturi, as well as some from other covens. Maggie from the Irish coven caught the bouquet and Randall from the American Nomads caught the garter. We partied until about one when people were starting to leave to go back home. We started saying our good-byes as people left.

Jane rushed me into a bathroom at two so that I could change out of my wedding dress. I put on a yellow dress with some white wedges and pearl earrings. Jane put my wedding dress back in the garment bag and put my shoes by it. I put my hair down.

"Bella, you're bags are already in the car. I'll drop your dress off at the house when I go back. Can I have a key?"

"Here," I threw her the key.

"Thanks. You had better get out there. You guys need to leave soon."

"Thanks, Jane. You're the best."

"So are you. Now go. I'll see you in a few weeks."

I walked back into the throne room to see Alec waiting for me. We said goodbye to everyone quickly before having to leave. "Jake, I'm glad that I got to see you guys again."

"We are too, Bella. Keep in touch if you can."

"Of course I will. Maybe you guys can come and visit again sometime."

"Yeah, maybe. We'll see you later then. We'll miss you, Bella."

"I'll miss you too." I gave the four of them a hug and followed Alec out the door to the car. Alec drove to the airport and we held hands the entire time. We got through security and were just waiting on our flight to be called. They called our flight and we boarded the flight.


	30. Chapter 30

We landed in Greece. We went to a car waiting outside of the airport. We were driven to a docking station where there were a ton of boats, obviously of those with money. Alec lead me to one and loaded up our luggage. After setting things up, he joined me in a seat. The sun was just starting to come up and there was a very small shimmer to both of our skins.

"I love you. Isabella Marie Volturi."

"I love you too, Alec. I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing that."

"I'm glad you think that. I don't know if I'll ever get used to saying it."

An hour had passed and I could just start to see the formation of an island. "Do you see that over there? That's where we are staying." Alec said.

"It looks nice."

"Yes it is, of course. But it isn't as nice or elaborate as the castle at home. This house is much smaller and simpler. Not as much detail in it. It's newer too, more modern. They just updated everything not too long after you got here."

"How much longer do we have?"

"About 20 minutes."

20 minutes passed and we were just pulling up to the dock. Alec tied the boat up and placed the bags inside of the house. The house was large, but only about the size of a normal one-story house. It was located right next to the water. Alec carried me into the house. He flipped on some lights and I saw that we were in the living room. It was quite large. The walls were painted a neutral tone with furniture to match it. On one wall hung a giant TV with shelves full of DVDs beside it. There were several pictures of the Volturi, including one of Alec and I, hung on the walls in various parts of the house. A kitchen and dining room were to the left of the living room, though they would hardly be used. Only if Ariana or our kids were here. It was probably just for show too. Down the hallway, there was a bathroom and three bedrooms. One bedroom had a small bed and furniture in it an was decorated for a little girl. My only guess was that this was Ariana's own room. The other room was used as an office and study. There was a computer and some book shelves in there. Alec showed me to the third bedroom. It was a very light colored room. In the center of the west wall was a large bed. There was a window looking out to the beach in front of it. There was other furniture such as dressers and nightstands in the room. I saw another picture of Alec and I on top of one of the dressers, sitting beside pictures of the other couples.

"This picture was taken when we went to the park that one day." I said to him.

"I know. I think I like that picture of us the best."

"Me too."

"I'll just give you a minute."

"Ok." Alec walked outside. Through the window in the bedroom I saw him sit in the sand, staring at the water. I grabbed something from my suitcase without looking- afraid because Jane packed my bag- and went into the bathroom to change. I joined him outside. We sat there for a few minutes before going into the bedroom.

Around 10 o'clock later that morning we decided to go swimming. I changed into my bathing suit and joined Alec in the water. We swam out far, but we couldn't go too far because we couldn't risk other boats seeing us and noticing why our skin was shimmering. This gave me a chance to test out some of the vampire things that I haven't been able to yet like swimming under water without having to come back up for air.

Alec and I took a walk around the island. He pointed out some of the other things that were on the island. There was a small Jacuzzi on the other side of the house. We would be taking advantage of that later. We went back to the house to shower and get ready to go back to the mainland. Once the sun was down a decent amount for us, we headed out. We walked around the town, stopping in shops and being asked by street venders to try and by their various products. I didn't speak Greek- Alec had to translate for me- but I didn't need his translations to know that some guys were trying to flirt with me. "Great. So I'm on my honeymoon and there are people flirting with my new wife. How is that fair?"

"Well, it's not for you. But, people flirt with you all the time too, you know."

"Like when?"

"At the restaurant when I was still a human."

"That was one time."

"Alec, I am sure that other girls besides me have flirted with you."

"True. Are you ready to go back?"

"Yeah." We walked back to the boat and went back to the house. The ride back was pretty quite. Alec and I sat silently, playing with each others hands, happy that we were finally married. We got in the hot tub when we got back to the house. That didn't last long as we were back in the bedroom.

The next couple of days were filled with exploring the island and being with each other. We were happy to be able to get away for a few weeks without interruption. Everybody at home had said that they wouldn't call unless it as an emergency and we really took advantage of the alone time and no interruptions.

The cleaning people came on the last morning of the honeymoon. There was a knock on the door. Alec was in the shower so I answered it. Two women stood outside of the door. Careful not to let my skin touch the sunlight, I let them in. Alec had just gotten out of the shower when I walked into the bedroom.

"Cleaners?" he asked.

"Yeah. I let them in."

"Ok. What do you want to do? Something inside. Can't risk them seeing our skin."

"Watch a movie?"

"Sounds good. You go pick one out and I will finish getting ready."

"Ok." I went into the living room, staring at the wall full of movies. There was so many to choose from. I finally decided on one, after much consideration. I put the movie into the DVD player. Alec brought in some drinks. Really they were just glasses filled with blood.

"What movie did you pick?"

"Romeo and Juliet."

"So predictable. How many times have you seen this movie?"

"A lot. We can watch something else if you want."

"No. it's fine. We still need to pack to go home tonight."

"I know. I don't want to leave. I've enjoyed it so much here."

"I know. Me too, but we have to get back to work and our house. Don't you want to see everyone back at home?"

"Yeah. I miss them."

"Then we have to go back home." he chuckled pressing his lips to the top of my head.

"Well, I'm sure Felix and Demetri are going to be asking us questions that we would rather not tell them, if you know what I mean."

"Oh. I'm sure they will. It wouldn't surprise me at all."

"I'll probably get the same thing from Emmett next time I see him, too."

"Emmett?"

"Yeah. He's just like Felix and Demetri. Felix actually reminded me of him when I first met him."

"Just because he's built like Emmett?"

"Yeah. That's why it took me a while to start to like him. He reminded me too much of Emmett. Demetri because he reminded me of Jasper with the way he holds himself up. At that point, I was still kind of depressed and they reminded me so much at what I had lost."

"Bella, I'm going to ask you a question and I want your honest answer."

"What is it?"

"Did or do I remind you of Edward?"

"What? No. No you don't. Not at all. Alec, whatever happened with him is nothing now. It's in the past, not the present. I love you. Only you. I loved him at one point in my life. Before he lied and cheated. Sure, we're friends now, but I don't love him anymore. What Edward and I were is nothing compared to what you and I are. Why would you ask something like that?"

"Bella, it's nothing against you. I just wanted to know if I was doing something wrong."

"No. you're not doing anything wrong. You're doing everything right." I kissed him. "Are you starting to doubt things again?"

His jaw dropped. "Bella, if I was doubting anything then why did we just get married last week. I'm not doubting anything."

"Then what's wrong? You've seemed kind of, I don't know, spacey and distant the past few days."

"I don't know. I guess I have just been thinking about what things could have been for both of us if you hadn't come."

"What do you mean?"

"Like what would you be doing right now if you hadn't come to Volterra and stayed in Washington. Or what I would be doing in all of the time I'm with you."

"That's why? Alec I can't… I don't even want to think about that. I don't want to think about what I could be doing if I wasn't here. Is that it?"

"Yeah. I think about what I would be doing or where I would be. And I think about the future. About what it would look like a few years down the road. I honestly can't think of anything."

"Don't worry about it," I whispered. "Nothing is going to change or happen between you and I. pretty soon, we'll have a family and we'll be happier than we have ever been. Everything is going to be fine."

After the movie we packed our bags and loaded them onto the boat. We got in and headed for the dock and we were picked up by a taxi to go to the airport.


	31. Chapter 31

Once we landed back in Italy, we had to drive about an hour back to the house. It was nice to get back home, but at the same time, I didn't want to leave the peace and quiteness of just being with Alec on the island. But, we had to come back home at some point. Work was waiting for us when we got back to the castle.

Alec and I both had to work tonight. Being away for two weeks makes the work pile up. Alec was downstairs tonight, watching the law unknowing newborns and the vampires that were just asking for a death wish. I was in the library for part of the night, filling out paperwork and sorting through things. The other part of the night was spent in the throne room. Everyone in the room was asking about the honeymoon and how it went. Felix and Demetri didn't say much, but there was that evil glint in their eyes that told me that we would be having a conversation later. And, as I had guessed, they walked up to me as I was getting in my car.

"So, Bella. I heard the honeymoon was good," Demetri started.

"Yes. It was nice." I replied.

"Is the house still standing? You didn't break anything, did you?" Felix asked.

"The house is still standing and, no we didn't break anything. Everything is in order."

"I bet Alec was impressed by the clothing that you wore. I bet I would be, too, if it were Jane."

"Me too if it were Heidi." Demetri said.

"You guys are perverts." I said and they started laughing.

"Bella, you know we love you."

"Yeah. I love you too, guys."

After saying goodbye to them, I headed home. Alec and I needed to get some stuff done at the house. Both of us had to unpack still and I could see tiny dust particles lying around from not being able to clean the house for two weeks. And it still smelled like wet dog. Blah! Gag me with a spoon! I love Jake and the guys, but the smell was horrible. I hadn't hunted since before the wedding. Alec and I decided to go hunting for a few hours and when we got home, we just chilled on the couch, watching a movie. Well, we were making out more than watching the movie and things soon went into the bedroom for a few hours.

I got a shower. Aro called saying that he needed Alec and I at the castle early. I didn't know why. Alec was going in two hours early and I wasn't on duty until nine tonight. It was only noon. I dried my hair and did my makeup. I decided on a dress that was white on the top and had a blue skirt with ruffles and a black belt around it and chose some flats. Jane and I were going to go shopping again after we got off. I got to the castle. Gianna handed Alec and I our cloaks.

"Why are we in so early and why do we need these?" I asked.

"Aro is expecting some visitors today. He needs everyone to be in uniform. You need to wear your crown too, Bella."

"Ok. Thanks, Gia."

"Hi, Bella and Alec." A voice came from behind the desk. I saw Arianna playing with some dolls on the floor.

"Hey, Arianna. What are you doing down here? Where's your mom and dad?" I asked.

"It must be an important visitor. Aro called for all of the guard to be here today so I'm watching her until Chelsea can leave." Gianna answered.

"That doesn't happen often." Alec said.

"I know. I would get down there quick."

I ran to my room and grabbed the crown. I went into the throne room where everyone was at and sat in my place next to Aro on the platform where the thrones were located. A few minutes passed by. Gianna came on everyone's headset to say that she was on the way down with Aro's visitors. There were two small raps on the door before she opened it. She walked in with two vampires behind her and walked out the other door to go back to the reception area. The two vampires that walked in stood in front of the thrones. Aro and everyone on the counsel and guard seemed to be on edge. It wasn't often that we got visitors.

"Hello," Aro said in a calm voice as he stood. "I am Aro and this is the rest of the Volturi counsel, Caius and Marcus; the princess, Bella; and the Volturi guard. What brings you two here today?"

"Hello, Aro. I'm Cassidy and this is my friend Kara. We're from Ireland. We had a male member in our coven, Ryan. He just ran off one day. We saw him and another woman in the woods a few days ago hunting. The woman was immortal, but it appeared that they had a child with them. The child was clearly not a human. It only appeared to be a few years old. We know what your law is about immortal children and we thought that you should be aware of the situation."

"Thank you, ladies, for bringing that to our attention. Do you think that you could lead a few members to the child to take care of it?"

"Yes, we could. We do know the wereabouts of the child."

"Very well. Are there only three members in that coven?"

"Yes, as far as we know, at least."

"The two adults and the child must be taken care of. Alec, Jane and Felix will take care it. You three must leave and take care of the problem immediately. Afton, I need you to make flight and hotel arrangements while the rest of them pack. You three will have only one week to investigate and take care of everything. I want a full report when you return. Afton, go make the arrangemants; Jane, Alec and Felix need to go pack. The rest of you are dismissed. "

I walked with Alec to his room at the castle. He started packing his clothes and I was sad that he had to leave for a week.

"Alec, what is an immortal child?" I was sitting on the bed, watching him pack.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Yes, but what's the exact definition?"

"Usually they're under the age of 15. We don't want immortal children because they aren't responsible enough to keep the secret."

"What's going to happen?"

"We kind of stalk the coven for a few days. Just to make sure the child is immortal. If they are, then we kill the child and the creators. If not, then the creators will die for giving away the secret. The child will be dealt with appropriately. They will either die or be raised here or with Gianna and be changed in the future and join the guard."

"Have there been other immortal children?"

"Yeah. A while back with the Denali coven. That's how their leader died."

"I thought Tanya was the coven leader."

"Now she is. It used to be a girl named Sasha. She created an immortal child. I can't remember the child's name. He was only three when he was transformed. Tanya just took the leadership role after she died."

"So, since Edward is with Tanya now, does that make the Denali leader also?"

"I don't know. I guess you would have to ask him. I have to go." he said.

"I don't want you to go." I pouted.

He chuckled. "You're so cute when you use that face. But I have to. I'll be back in a few days. I promise."

"Will you call or text?"

"I will whenever I get the chance to. But I have to go now." He took my face between his hands and placed a kiss on my lips.

"Be careful."

"I will. It's me, Jane and Felix. We'll be just fine. I love you."

"I love you."

He went out to meet Jane and Felix in the garage. They left. _It's only a few days, Bella. You can do this. He'll be just fine. _I thought to myself. I only had to make it a week without seeing him. He would call or text whenever he got the chance.

I decided to go home for a few hours until I had to come back. I guess I wouldn't be shopping with Jane today. We'll have to rescheduale.


	32. Chapter 32

**Alec POV**

Aro sent me on an immortal child mission with Jane and Felix._ Great_, I thought to myself. _A whole week spent with those two lovebirds. _Leaving Bella wasn't easy, especially since we had just gotten married only a few weeks ago and just got back from the honeymoon. But, work calls and I can't refuse an order from Aro if it involves someone breaking the law.

We were on a plane to Ireland. Kara and Cassidy were going to show us where the vampires and the immortal child resided. After Jane, Felix and I checked into our hotel, we met up with Kara and Cassidy and they led us to a place in the woods where we could find the house. No one seemed to be home at the time- they were probably out hunting or something- so we just looked at the area for a while. A few hours passed and the sun was starting to fall over the horizon. We decided to head to the hotel and come back in the morning or whenever the vampires got back home.

The next morning, the family had arrived back at the house. To avoid suspicion of being here to find them, Jane, Felix and I found a spot in the mountains where we could observe without being seen or smelled. The male, Ryan, walked out of the house and we could see a small amount of shimmer on his skin. The female walked out with the same effect. They were clearly vampires. A small child emerged from the house a few minutes later and walked over to the female. The child was a boy who looked no more than Ariana's age, who is four, but his facial features, the way he walked and spoke told different. This was clearly an immortal child. We watched for a few more hours- observing the child and how it acted, also the parents to see if they had any powers. We headed back to the hotel to figure out a plan.

"So we're going to go back tomorrow to keep observing them. Tuesday, we'll go up and do as discussed." Jane said. Aro left her in charge of the mission. "Now, from what it appears, nobody has any special powers. That really shouldn't matter with Alec and I. Alec, you use your power on the child. We won't make it suffer. I'll torture the adults. They created this child so they deserve it. And they know about the law from what I understand. Felix, you get Ryan since your the strongest. Alec get the child and I'll get the girl. Aro wants us to report everything that happens."

We kept observing for the day. Nothing had really changed about the family. We still didn't see any powers and the child didn't act any differently. But it did appear that the child had grown maybe an inch since yesterday. We also observed the area, making sure that there was no chance that humans would come across here while everything was happening.

Back at the hotel, I called Bella. "Hey."

"Hi. How is everything going?"

"Fine. We go in tomorrow to do everything."

"That's good. So you'll be home soon?"

"From the looks of it, yes. It doesn't seem that they have any special powers so it should go quickly and we can be on our way home."

"Good. I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"Ok. I just pulled up to the castle, so I have to go now."

"Alright. I'll see you in a few days. Love you."

"Love you, too," and she hung up.

I got a shower. We only had a few hours until we were leaving. I put on my all black attire with my cloack and Volturi necklace that we were required to wear when we were out on business. I met Jane and Felix outside in the woods, where we ran to the house. We were approaching the house.

"Vampire." Ryan said from inside. He opened the door. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Sir," Jane started. "Are you aware of who we are?"

"No, I'm not aware."

"We're the Volturi. We're the vampire law enforcers, if you will."

"Ok. Is there something wrong?"

"We have heard and witnessed that an immortal child resides in this house with you."

"What do you mean by immortal child?" he said, stepping out of the house and closing the door.

"Don't mess with us. You know exactly what we mean," Felix said.

"I do have a child. My girlfriend and I. Why does that matter?"

"Is she also a vampire?" Jane asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes."

"And your son?"

He hesitated. "Not completely. She was still human, but she's not anymore. He is half-human half-vampire. Is there something wrong with that?" he was getting defensive now.

"I don't know if you know this or not, but the laws concerning any form of immortal child is strictly watched as well as the exposing of the vampire secret. Both laws go together. We can't have an irresponsible child running around, exposing the vampire world."

"Well, I can assure that that won't happen."

"I'm sure you can. But that doesn't mean that it won't happen. Alec,"

"Yes, sister?"

"Would you please incapacitate him."

"With pleasure," I let my hazy mist reach him. He looked at it in confusion before he dropped to the ground, paralyzed.

"Ryan, what's going on out here? Who's at the door?" the girl came out and looked at us. "Hello. Who are you?"

"Hi, I'm Jane. This is my husband Felix and my brother Alec," she said, putting on her sweet, innocent act.

"Hi. I'm Jade. Is something wrong?" she seemed confused.

"We're from a coven of vampires in Italy called the Volturi. I don't know if you have heard about us, but we make and enforce the laws of the vampire world. We know that you have a child who is partly immortal. That goes against the rules. We can't have an irresponsible child as an immortal. It might expose the secret."

"Michael has caused no harm. Michael won't do anything to hurt anyone."

"Doesn't matter and we can't be sure of that. It's against the law and needs to be dealt with. Now, you can make this easy and go get the child or end up like him." she pointed to Ryan.

Jade called for the child. He came out. "This is Michael."

"Because of your actions, you and Ryan will be killed. Your actions were irresponsible. As for the child, well, we can't have a child that will expose the secret." I put the haze over the child. Jane caused Jade to scream in agony before killing her. Felix started a fire and Jane started throwing pieces in. Felix grabbed Ryan and I let the haze leave him. He tried to fight Felix, but Jane put a stop to that quickly. Felix ripped his head off and started to disemble the vampire while I killed the child. We stayed around the fire until it died down and we were sure that everything was burned completely. "I think our work here is done. Let's go home."

We went straight to Aro's office as soon as we got home.

"So they didn't try to fight much?" Aro asked. We were in the Counsel's office.

"No, Father. Ryan did, but not for long before I stopped him." Jane replied.

"So is everything in order now?"

"Yes."

"Very well. You all did good. You may be dismissed now."

I drove home, anxious to see Bella. I had only gotten to talk to her once this entire week. She was sitting on the couch when I got home reading her battered copy of _Wuthering Heights. _"You're reading that again?" I said as I sat next to her on the couch.

"It's my favorite. I missed you."

"I missed you too," she kissed me lightly.

"Did everything go ok?"

"Yeah. They didn't even try to fight really. I mean, the guy did, but Felix already had him restrained and Jane made him stop."

"Good. What about the child?"

"What do you mean?"

"What did it do? Fight back?"

"No. I think that it was just confused. I cut off it's senses so it didn't have to feel anything."

"Poor child," she whispered.

"Bella, it had to be done. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't imagine if that were our children or Ariana."

"And it won't be. Ever."

**A/N: I don't know if anyone looks at an author's profile, but I posted a new announcement that I was hoping to have this story and my other one done by the end of summer. With that, I have two more stories that I have begun gathering details for and pre-writing some parts. I need title suggestions. The couples are going to be Paul and Bella, and an all human Edward and Bella. I'm taking suggestions for titles. So just PM me if you have any and I will take it into consideration. :)**


	33. Chapter 33

**Bella POV**

A few weeks had gone by since the immortal child incident. It had been almost two months since we got married. It was now nearing August. With it just being Alec and I in the house, it was starting to get lonely. Alec was, of course, great company and we had friends over occasionally, but the house was just too quiet.

I was sitting in bed reading a new book, _Second Glance _by Jodi Picoult. I wasn't very far into the book. I just got to the part where it was describing Lucy. After reading both about her and Ethan- and another section where Spencer Pike was saying that a crying baby woke him up- I started wondering about when we were going to have kids running around our house.

"Alec," I said. He was lying in bed next to me, flipping through channels.

"Yeah?"

"When will you be ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Kids."

"Bella, I'm more concerned about when you're ready."

"Why?"

"You're still considered a newborn. You aren't even a year old."

"But I have control over myself. I haven't even had a taste of human blood."

"If you think that you're ready, then I can't stop you."

"But are you ready? I know that you're with Ariana all the time, but are you ready to have humans living in the house 24/7? Because if you aren't, then we can wait a while longer. We don't have to do this now."

"Bella, I'm ready when you're ready. You don't need to be worrying about me. I have myself in control. Now, are _you _ready?"

I thought about it for a minute before saying yes.

"Ok. There is an adoption house in Rome. It's the same place that Ariana was adopted from. We could go there on Saturday."

"Sounds good." The rest of the night was spent talking about the children, although we didn't have them, nor had we even met them or made a decision on whether we wanted boys or girls or both. We just knew that we wanted to adopt two children- preferably under a year old- and we would decide on the sex once we got there. We didn't want to get a child based on gender. We wanted to be able to see the child and know that they were ours, other than picking a child based only on gender.

The rest of the week went quickly. Alec and I had talked to Aro, Marcus and Caius about what we were going to do. They were all happy that the new additions to the family were coming soon. Nobody else knew. They went over some things with us. We needed to know what would happen when the kids got older and what could happen if they were to do or say something to give out the secret.

We left the castle to go to Rome. Alec and I were really looking forward to this day all week. We pulled up to the large Victorian style home. There was a sign in front reading Casa della Speranza. House of Hope was what Alec said it translated too. The house was large, Victorian. The deck wrapped around most of the house and there were various toys and a few bikes lying around. In the back of the house, there was a fenced in portion of yard. A simple swing set was in the back and we saw a few kids running around playing as if there were not a care in the world. I smiled as I thought of our kids playing like that when they got older.

Alec led me through the front door. A woman sitting at a desk greeted us. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"I'm Alec and this is my wife Bella. We called a few days ago."

"Oh, yes. We have been expecting you today. I will just go get Mr. and Mrs. Bianchi. Please take a seat." she walked into another room. A few minutes later she came back in with another woman and man. They looked to be about in their fifties maybe.

"Hello, I'm Natalia and this is Sergio. We're the owners of Casa della Speranza. You must be Alec and Bella."

"Yes. Hello, it's nice to meet you." I said.

"It's nice to meet you, too. Why don't you just step into the office and we can get started." we walked into the room that they had come out of. Sergio walked into what I assumed was the living room. "Now, we just want to get started by just asking a few questions. Do you have the papers we requested?" I handed her the papers from my purse. She looked over them for a few minutes. "Bella, it says that you're from America."

"Yes. I came here last November just to visit. I loved it here so much that I ended up moving here." the lie rolled off my tongue effortlessly.

"Are there others living with you?"

"No. It's just us in the house."

"And how long have you two been married?"

"Since June. We wanted to start a family as soon as possible."

"What's the reason for choosing adoption?"

"Fertility problems." I said. It wasn't really a lie, considering I was unable to have children.

"Ok. How much experience do you both have with children?"

"Well, when I was in America I babysat a lot. Children of different ages. And our four-year-old niece visits a lot. You might know her. She came from here."

"Really. And who is that?"

"Ariana Volturi. My brother, Afton, and his wife, Chelsea, adopted her a few years ago." Alec answered.

"Oh, yes. They make a good donation here every year. Do you know what age group you were looking at for adopting?"

"Newborn is what we would like. But any age is fine really." I said.

"Were you looking to adopt just one child?"

"No actually. We were hoping to adopt two children."

"Alright. I will lead you to the nursery then. Was there a specific gender you were wanting?"

"No. We aren't really sure what gender we want."

"Alright," she said with a smile. "Follow me."

She led us up a flight of stairs and into a room painted light green. There was a sign on the door labeled 0-12 months. Cribs lined the room with an aisle going down the center of the room.

"Since you were looking for two children, did you want to see the twin's nursery?"

"Uh. Yeah. If we could." Alec said after looking at me and I nodded. She led us through another door in the room. There were four sets of cribs in the room.

"Each set of twins is side-by-side. You can have a set of twins or you can go back in the other room also. I'll be across the hall once you've made your decision and we can get started on paperwork and stuff."

"Ok. Thank you," she left the room. We started going around the room, looking at each set of twins. There were two sets of boys, a set of girls and a set of both. We looked the boy and girl set last. The boy seemed to have almost the same brown hair that Alec had and the girl had the same chocolate brown eyes that I had as a human. The boy was asleep, but the girl took to Alec immediately, smiling and reaching for him. With just one look at the children, we made our decision.

Natalia came in a few minutes later. "Have you made a decision?"

"Yes we have." I said.

She came over to us then. "Ah. These two haven't been here long. They came when they were born only a few weeks ago. Shall we go start the paperwork?" we walked back down to the office. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you," Alec and I replied.

"Alright." she started pulling out a file from a drawer. "The twins were born on June 17th, making them about 6 weeks old. The parents were only 16 years old and couldn't take the parenting responsibility. Now, I'll need both of you to fill out these papers. One is a contract saying that you are going to become the legal parents of the two children and the other says that there is a stable income and home."

We filled out all of the papers and went over everything about the kids that we needed to know. "The children don't have legal names at this point. Have you thought of any names?" Alec and I had discussed names earlier in the week.

"Emma Jane and Jordan Charles," was what we decided on.

"Those are lovely names. The paperwork is all done. However, you will have to wait a few days for things to get verified. It usually only takes about a week. We will give you a call when you can pick them up." she said with a smile.

"Thank you so much." I said as we walked out of the house.

"You're very welcome." Natalia said.

Alec and I left the house very happy. "I love you," he said.

"I love you, too. And Emma and Jordan."

"Me too. So what are we going to do for a week?"

"Well, we need to start on the nurseries. And we need to go shopping for clothes, and car seats, and toys, and furniture, and bottles, and formula. We need to get paint for the rooms to start them. We have a lot to do in the next couple of days."

"Well, then let's start now." Alec drove the car onto the highway, heading for a baby store.


	34. Chapter 34

We bought paint for the nurseries and stocked up on diapers, wipes and formula. We painted the rooms- Jordan's a light blue and Emma's a light pink- and we were going to buy clothes, bottles, and some other stuff like that today. Over the past four days, the nurseries were painted, clothes started to pile up in the house, bottles took over the cabinets, furniture was put together and toys started to take over the house. We told everyone in the castle about the kids and they were excited to have some new faces in the castle. Ariana was excited to have some cousins to play with. After we told them, baby stuff started to show up at the house on a regular basis throughout the week.

Alec and I were at the store, looking at car seats. "Are we getting this one, then? Because we need to decide soon. We only have three days until we get them." Alec said.

"Yeah. It seems like the safest one. Grab two of them and put them in the cart." I replied. We walked over to look at cribs. We decided on a white one for Emma and found the pink bedding to match the paint. For Jordan, we found a black crib and got basball bedding for it. Alec and I decided that we would stop shopping for today. We couldn't fit anything else in the car.

Alec put the cribs together with help from Afton. Chelsea and I installed the car seats, making sure that they were in there properly. She also helped me fold the rest of the clothes for the kids and get my house back in order. The house was so disorganized with everything going on this past week.

"Are you excited?" she asked.

"Very."

"And him?"

"Yes, he is. But, he's still concerned about me."

"Becasue you're still a newborn?"

"Yeah. He doesn't doubt that I won't do anything, but he's still concerned."

"I understand. You have great control, but that doesn't guarantee that something won't happen. It might be a little harder as they get older. They start to walk and run. And they fall down, scrape their knee up. It's not a lot of blood until you have to endure cleaning it up and putting a bandaide on a small little cut."

"Trust me, I know." I went back to my birthday party. One little paper cut changed the lives of so many people. It wasn't a lot of blood- just one little drop- but it had been too much for Jasper to handle and he tried to attack me. As a result, Edward left for Tanya- though he would've anyway. I was depressed, came to Italy, met Alec and here we are today. Yes, I knew how much just a small amount of blood could affect a vampire. It wasn't that hard for me to see.

"Ariana is excited to have new cousins to play with."

"I thought that she would be. She'll have to watch all of the princess movies with Emma when she's older. And teach Jordan how to hit a basball."

Chelsea laughed. "Yeah. I think that she'd enjoy that. But she would probably make him wear a pink helmet and use a pink bat."

"That's true. Is she at the castle today?"

"No. She had a play date with a friend today."

"Do you think that she will be jealous at all with the kids?"

"Afton and I had this discussion. She is used to having all of the attention. We decided that we don't want anymore because it's less that we have to worry about the secret. We told her that it wasn't always going to be about her anymore and that she'll have to share her stuff at the castle and things like that. She understands, but we'll just have to see once they come. But she is already asking for a sleepover with them."

I laughed. Alec and Afton walked into the living room. All of the furniture was put together and they were just waiting on us to move it to its respected place. After moving the furniture around and putting the rest of the clothes away, the rooms were officially done. Chelsea and Afton left to go home. Alec went on a small hunting trip in the woods and I stayed at the house since I had hunted yesterday.

While he was gone, I looked at the past nine months that have gone by and reflected on everything. From first arriving, the transformation, the engagement, wedding and honeymoon, and now. Around this time in three days, we would be walking through the door with two kids. I was taken out of my thoughts by my cell phone ringing. I looked at the caller id. Alice.

"Hello."

"I'm proud of you, Bella, with the nurseries." she said.

"Thanks, Ali. I learned from the best."

"I know," I could hear the smile in her voice. "And I can see that your clothing has improved, too."

"Yeah. It has, I guess. Jane and the rest of the girls help out a lot, though."

"That's good. So when are you guys going to visit us so that we can see the kids?"

"Probably not for a while. We want to settle them in before making any big trips. You can come up here if you want, but you already have three times and I want to come back to the States for a visit."

"I understand. You guys can come whenever you want too."

"Thanks, Alice."

"Sure. I have to go now. Jasper and I are going hunting with Edward and Tanya."

"Have fun."

"Bye, Bella."

"Bye."

Alec came home and we settled on the couch, watching a movie and talking for the rest of the evening until I had to leave. Heidi and Demetri had come back to the castle after being gone for a few days on vacation and I told them about the twins. They were happy, of course, and were excited for them to come in a few days. I asked the Counsel about Alec and I getting a few days off after they came, and we granted a week off, starting the day they came. We were grateful- this would allow us to get a little bit used to having them and we could spend some time with them before having to go back to work.

I was counting down the days until they came home with us. Just a little over two days. Alec said that Natalia had called earlier in the morning when I was still gone. The paper work was done and approved. They just told us to wait until Sunday so that they could get their things ready. Two more days


	35. Chapter 35

Today was the day, August 7. We had gotten the call yesterday saying that we could come today. Emma and Jordan were coming home. They would be officially ours.

"Are you nervous?" Alec asked me as we were getting off the exit, almost to the Casa della Speranza where they were at.

"A little." I admitted. "But I'm mostly excited. You?"

"Same. I can't wait to walk into the house with them."

"That's all I was thinking about when we got the call yesterday. Things are going to be different now. No speeding." I joked, but I was serious at the same time. "At least not while they are in the car."

"I know, I know. I promise I won't speed when they are in the car."

When we arrived, we walked in and the same woman at the front desk greeted us and got Sergio. "Come with me. Natalia is just finishing up getting them ready." he smiled at us.

We walked into the green nursery again and saw the babies in their cribs being fed and changed. We walked into the other door in the room where the infant twins were. Natalia was putting Emma back in her crib and getting Jordan out to finish getting him ready to come home.

"Bella, Alec. It's so nice to see you again."

"You, too, of course." I said.

"Today is the big day. Are you ready?"

"Yes. We're so excited to finally be able to take them home."

"Fantastico. I'm almost done getting them ready. Sergio, would you mind going through the final paper work with them?"

"Of course. Follow me, please." he said. He led us back downstairs and into the office. He pulled our file from a drawer and started going through the stuff, telling us where to sign and all of that stuff. He told us all the things that we needed to know, especially since we were first time parents.

"That's everything. Jordan Charles and Emma Jane Volturi are officially yours. They should be down soon."

A smile broke out on my face and Alec's as well. Natalia came down with both kids a few minutes later and they said their goodbyes to the kids. After putting them in their car seats, Natalia and Sergio gave Alec and I a hug, kiss on the cheek, and a thank you for adopting the kids. "Come back anytime to visit." Natalia said.

Alec pulled out of the drive and we were on our way home. Both kids were awake when we got home and I was thankful for that. They would be awake walking through the doors to their new home for the first time.

I held Emma as Alec took Jordan. Alec unlocked the door and I was half expecting to see the whole castle at the house. Jane had wanted to throw a welcome home party for the twins, but I told her no, wanting no visitors upon arriving home. This was time for Alec and I to be with our kids. Nobody was there.

"Welcome home." Alec said to the kids.

We went up to their rooms. We went to Emma's first. "Hey, Emma. This is your room. It's pink. I think you'll like it. And look at all of these new clothes you get to wear." I walked over to the closet. "You'll have to thank aunts Jane and Heidi and Chelsea later."

We went into Jordan's room next and to each of the other rooms showing them where everything was at and telling them about who everyone was when we would pass a picture. "That's uncle Felix and aunt Chelsea and your cousin Ariana. Uncle Felix is kind of big and looks scary, but you don't have to be afraid of him because he's a big teddy bear. And aunt Chelsea is pretty, just like your momma. And you'll love Ariana, Emma. She's going to teach you who all of the princesses are and she'll teach you both how to kick a soccer ball when you're older." Alec said. When he said that I was pretty, even though he's my husband and I have heard it so many times in so many different ways over the past few months, I knew that, if I were human, I would have blushed crimson. "That's mommy's friends, Jake and Embry and Seth and Quil. They're werewolves. They smell kind of funny. But it's ok. They're still allowed to visit us."

Emma made a small O with her mouth as she yawned and her eyes started to close. I chuckled a little and put her in her crib. I heard Jordan start crying as I was doing this and heard Alec making a bottle.

I sat on the stairs and watched Alec give Jordan his bottle. It was their first day home and he already seemed like a natural at the dad thing. I knew that he would only get better as time went by.

I thought of my own father then. It had been almost nine months since I left. Jake said they were still searching and that they weren't going to stop. I didn't want them to search for me and I told him that in my letter. In a way, it told me that he and Renee and Phil still loved me and wouldn't give up until they found me and I was back in Forks. I was surprised when Jake told me that Renee had moved back to Forks to help- she hated that place. But I didn't want to go. I now called home Volterra and I was married to Alec and had Jordan and Emma. Forks was no longer home and it never would be again.

Alec and I put Jordan in bed and went into our bedroom. "I can't believe they are finally here." I said.

"I know. Me too, that we are actually parents."

"What do you think will happen? In the future when they find out that vampires exist and that their entire family is made up of vampires. What will happen?"

"They'll have a choice. When they are old enough, they will have a choice between this life or a human life. Ariana will have that same choice when she is old enough, too. If they choose this life, then that's fine. If they choose to live a human life, then that's their own decision and we won't love them any less for whatever choice they make."

"I just don't want them to be influenced in any way. I don't want people trying to convince them one way or the other like I was. I mean, everyone told me that I wouldn't want this life, that there were too many things to sacrifice to be happy. But I made my decision to become this and I am completely happy with it."

"I know you are. And there are sacrifices with it. I'm sure that they will weigh each option carefully and know what they are giving up if they do choose this life. I think that they will make their own decision based on what _they _want. Not what anyone else wants or tries to convince them of."

I heard a small cry and knew it was Emma. "I'll get her." I said. I walked into her room and picked her up. "Hey, Emma. Let's go get you a bottle."

I set her down on the floor while I made a bottle. She was fed and burped quickly and I changed her diaper before putting her back in bed. Jordan woke up again during the night and I was quickly starting to see that Alec and I wouldn't get much done at night if the kids were going to wake up every few hours wanting fed and changed.


	36. Chapter 36

Throughout the next couple weeks, Alec and I seemed to adjust to parenthood pretty well. Both kids were adjusting to their new surroundings, too. They were sleeping through the night now and even starting to show a little personality.

Aro and Sulpicia were taking the kids for the night- they really loved those kids- so Alec and I could hunt and have some time together. We decided to take the four and a half hour- well, really only a little over two hours with Alec driving- trip to Capua.

"They should be ok for tonight. Everything they need is in the bag. Call if you need anything." I told Aro before we left.

Alec and I got in the car and started driving, our speed nearing 130 in my Bugatti Veyron. It was rare anymore that we got to drive either of our sports cars because we usually had the kids with us. We had purchased a 4runner as the 'family vehicle'. I missed my car. I missed the speed.

My driving speed increased since I became a vampire. Before learning of vampires, I never sped, simply because my father was a police chief and I was always taught to abide by the law. After meeting Edward and his crazy driving habits, I got used to the speed, but I didn't dare go the speeds that he was going. I would be dead by now if that happened. After becoming a vampire, slowly I started to drive faster knowing that I had better coordination and I was likely to live if I ever got in a wreck.

Alec slowed down as we entered the city. He turned onto a side road and drove for a few miles until we were near the mountains and we would have to run the rest of the way. We ran together and went our separate ways one we got into the mountains to hunt. I got a small deer and an elk. My thirst was quenched and I met Alec at the car an hour later. Both of our eyes had returned to the golden color.

"Get anything good?" I asked.

"Yeah. A grizzly and a mountain lion. What did you get?"

"Deer and an elk. Nothing fun, really."

He chuckled. "Always looking for something dangerous. You ready to go?"

"Yes."

We were driving back home, chatting. "Your birthday is in a few days, Bella."

"Yeah, so."

"What do you want?"

"Alec, you aren't getting me anything. I already explained this to you. We got the kids. That's enough of a present as it is. I don't want anything. And I don't want anything bad to happen, like last year."

"Bell, you were human then. Something was bound to happen to you. I only knew your human self for a week and I even knew that. In one week how many times had you tripped? A lot. More than the average human, I'm sure. Edward can probably testify to that. I was surprised that you are as graceful as you are, even as a vampire. You're getting a birthday present whether you like it or not. It's your first birthday here."

"When's your birthday?"

"December eleventh."

"I missed it last year?"

"It's no big deal. We don't really celebrate birthdays unless it's for the kids. We just do something small for the rest of us."

"What do you want for your birthday?"

"I think me and a few of the guys were going to go skiing or something. We haven't really talked about it. If you want to make a big deal out of this, why don't you wait a few years when Jane and I turn 600."

"I'm only turning 19. It's not that important. And I stopped aging at 18, so it shouldn't count."

"Whatever. I'm still getting you something."

Two days later, the night before my birthday, I was getting ready to leave for the castle for my regular ten p.m. to eight a.m. shift. I slipped on a white, ruffled dress and some boots. I put on my wedding ring and another ring. After applying a bit of makeup, grabbed my keys.

"I'm leaving." I walked into Emma's room where Alec was getting her ready for bed. Jordan was lying on the floor beside them.

"Ok. Can you run to the store tomorrow after your shift? We're running low on diapers and wipes."

"Yeah, I will. I talked to the Cullens while you were gone. They asked if it would be ok that they visit us next week."

"What did you tell them?"

"I said that it would be fine. They'll be here Tuesday afternoon."

"Ok. I love you."

"Love you too," I said giving him a pack on the lips. "Love you both." I gave Emma and Jordan a kiss and left.

At the stroke of midnight, there was a chorus of 'happy birthday, Bella' throughout the entire castle. I didn't want the attention, but I knew that I shouldn't ask for that because it wouldn't happen. I asked for no presents, but Jane refused that wish and shoved a neatly wrapped box in my face as I was just walking into the throne room.

"Happy birthday, Bella."

"Jane, I asked for no gifts."

"I know, but a birthday is no fun without them. Come on, open it, please. It's nothing big, I promise."

I tore the paper off and saw that it was an entire outfit: pants, shirt, shoes and some jewelry.

"Thanks, Jane. I really like it."

"You're welcome." she smiled and went to her place.

"Bella, dear," Aro was approaching me. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, father."

"I can't believe that it's almost been a year since you have joined us already. You have grown so much maturity and power wise. And we can't wait to see how you continue to grow in the years to come. Nineteen, is it?"

"Yes. Nineteen."

"Well, I'm sure that we can look forward to more from you as a vampire."

"I can assure you that you won't be disappointed."

I grabbed my headset from Gianna who also wished me a happy birthday. I had a feeling I would be receiving these all night. Felix stopped me as I was going into the throne room.

"Hey, Bella, you want to help execute someone for your birthday?"

"What did they do?"

"They were trying to create a newborn army."

"A newborn army?" I asked. "What is that?"

"Oh, Bella." he said as he put his arm around my shoulder and started walking downstairs. "A newborn army is an army of new vampires. First stages of life, totally uncontrollable. Very conspicuous when they are let loose."

"I see. I don't think that I really want to help with that just yet, Felix."

"It's ok. You can just tend to the fire."

"Ok. I'll tend to the fire, but I won't participate in any killing part."

The smile on his face grew as he led me into the cells. The vampire hadn't been here for long. Only a few weeks, I think. Just enough time to cause him to weaken enough that he didn't fight Felix and Heidi as they took him out of the cell and forced him to stay in one spot.

I looked away as they started to disassemble the vampire, keeping my eyes locked on the burning fire in front of me. Heidi started throwing pieces at me and I threw them in, closing my eyes. They left and I stayed. I wasn't supposed to leave until the fire died down some and completely burned the vampire. When it did, I put water on it so that it would stop. I was glad to be out of that room.

My shift was over. I grabbed my gift from Jane out of my old room and headed out. I made a quick stop at the store on the way home to get the things that Alec said that we needed.

When I got home, the car was gone and I knew that Alec had taken the kids to the doctor for their appointment. I walked into the kitchen and saw a bouquet of white roses sitting on the counter. There was a card with it that read; _Happy birthday, Momma. Love, Daddy, Emma, and Jordan. _

I had a wide smile on my face when I read the card. I heard a car door shut and went outside to help Alec. I grabbed one car seat and he grabbed the other.

"Thank you for the flowers." I said as we walked in.

"Good. You saw them. Happy birthday." he said with a kiss on the cheek. "I have something else to give you later."

"I hope you didn't spend too much on me."

"Bella, no amount of money is ever going to be too small for you. You are worth every penny of it. And I think that you will like the thing that I got you."

"Can I have a hint?"

"No. I'll give it to you after we put the kids down for a nap later."

The rest of the day was spent as usual. Feeding the kids, changing diapers and the other normal stuff. Alec left for his shifts for a few hours and came back after the kids were asleep. I was lying in bed, reading my book when he got home.

"I have your present for you." he said as he slid into bed with me. He pulled out a long, rectangular box with a green ribbon wrapped around it.

When I opened it, I saw a necklace on a silver cahin. On it were two crystal hearts, one pink and the other blue. It was a twin necklace, obviously to represent Jordan and Emma. "It's beautiful."

"Just like you. Here, turn around." he said taking the box. He put the necklace on and I looked in the mirror.

"Thanks you, Alec. I love it so much."

"You're welcome."


	37. Chapter 37

Tuesday came quickly and I was rushing at the house to get everything ready after having to do things outside of the house after guard. Even at the vampire speed, it still seemed like I was running out of time. I had to load and unload the dishwasher, switch laundry over and fold the clean stuff that would also need to get put away. The floors needed vaccumed, toys had to be put away.; I could see a layer of dust starting to form on the TV screen. The kids weren't even ready yet. They needed to get baths and eat before the Cullens got here. Thankfully, Alec came home and started helping, seeing that I was really rushing. He got the kids ready and also got the toys picked up and floors vaccumed while I did the other stuff. I heard a car pull into the driveway as I was putting the last pile of clean clothes in the closet and Alec was putting a bottle in Emma's mouth.

The door bell rang and I picked Jordan to answer the door. Alec sat in the living room with Emma eating.

"Hey!" I greeted all of the Cullens cheerfully when I answered the door. "Come on in."

"Hi, Bella." Alice was the first one in the door. "Oh. This must be Jordan. He is so adorable! Where is Emma?"

"She's in the living room with Alec. He just gave her her bottle."

I led them into the living room and they all were passing the twins around to hold them and get a good look at them. They were all happy for us and they thought the kids were absolutely adorable. I noticed that Rosalie stayed a little distant and I looked to Emmett, getting his attention. He gave me a questioning look and I looked to Rosalie quickly. He understood what I meant.

_Don't worry about her. _he told me through his thoughts. _It's just a little difficult for her because you have the babies. A little jelousy is all. She'll come around soon. _He gave a reassuring smile.

"Can we see their rooms, Bella?" Alice asked.

"Yeah. Of course." I led them up to Emma's room first.

"Oh, this is adorable." Esme said. The rest of the girls seemed to agree. The guys, while thinking it was cute for a girl with it being pink and girly, wanted to see Jordan's room. We went there next. All of the guys liked it.

We went downstairs for a while just chatting and catching up with each other. There was a football game on a little later in the day. The guys wanted to watch it so the girls and I went upstairs into the family room. Jordan stayed with the guys and Emma came with us.

"How old are they now?" Tanya asked.

"They just turned three months on Saturday." I answered. "Their birthday is June 17."

"We're sorry we couldn't visit sooner. Carlisle's work schedule has been kind of crazy lately." Esme apoligized.

"Don't be sorry. I understand. We've been kind of busy here too. Jordan and Emma don't let us slow down." I laughed.

I noticed that Rosalie hadn't said a word since they got here. She hadn't held the kids, either. Everyone else was so eager to see and hold them. When Emmett was holding the kids, all she did was give him a sad smile and he seemed to understand what it was about.

"Do you want to hold her, Rosalie?"

"No. That's ok." she said quietly, looking down.

I wondered if I could talk to her privately later and decided that I would try later. Alice must have seen a vision because she nodded to me.

A few hours passed. The kids went to bed and the rest of us sat around talking and watching TV. The guys were playing cards in the dining room while the rest of us were in the living room watching a movie. The movie ended and I asked Rosalie if she would come outside with me to talk.

"Sure," she said in a confused tone.

She followed me outside. We walked to the end of the long driveway at a human pace in silence.I wanted some privacy and being here was better than just being right outside a house full of vampires.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Bella?" she asked.

"Rose, you're so quiet today. And... distant. You've barely said a word tonight, let alone a full sentance hardly. You won't hold the kids. What's up?"

She looked sad for a moment. She loooked up at me with apologetic eyes. "Bella, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been acting myself tonight and that I have been really distant. It's just...it's hard, I guess. Do you know any of my story?"

"No. Not any specifics. Edward only said that Carlisle found you in New York."

"Yes. That's true. My best friend's name was Vera. She married a carpenter, someone no one would have expected anyone of our class to marry. My family was high middle class, along with hers. For us, it was as if the Depression were only a trouble to the outside world. Anyway, Vera had a son. Henry was his name. Before Henry, I could see how Vera's husband looked at her with such love and adoration. I wanted a husband to come home from work and give a kiss to me. A husband that loved me. I held no envy for her then. I was only happy for her.

"Then Henry came. She had a baby and then I realized that I wanted a baby, too. I was then a bit envious of her. Envy was a new emotion for me. It was always clear that I was the favorite child between me and my two younger brothers. I was the prettiest gril in town and the men would always turn their heads towards me when I walked by. I would hear women talk about how much they wished to be me. I had everything I wanted handed right to me on a silver platter. But there was something that I wanted and that was a baby.

"I was engaged to a man named Royce King. Everything I had wanted was almost in my grasp. Royce had promised that we would have lots of babies as soon as we were married. I quickly learned that was wrong just days before the wedding. I was walking home from Vera's one night. It was so close to home and the sun had only fallen so I didn't bother to ask for an escort home.

"I was just blocks away from home when I heard them. I saw Royce and a few of his friends across the street, calling my name. They were drunk. Without going into the gory details, they raped me and left me in the street to die. Carlisle found me. When I knew what I had become, I was furious with him for taking away my humanity.

"After finding Emmett, things got better in some ways. Someone who truly loves me, wouldn't let anything happen to me.

"In other ways, it got worse. I could no longer bear children. Couldn't even dream about it at night. Emmett and I would never grow old together and watch our grandchildren in the backyeard playing. Never hear their laughter. That's why I've been like this. I have gotten over the fact that you are a vampire now and you gave up your human life. But now you have children and while they aren't your _biological _children," she emphasized the word. "they are children that belong to you."

"So, you've been distant because I now have children? Do you hate me because of it?"

"No. I don't hate you. I never could. At your ball, I saw Afton and Chelsea with Arianna and thought that that could be Emmett and I if we weren't the monsters we are. And earlier, when Emmett was holding the kids, I couldn't help but imagine him with our kids. It saddened me that it would never happen."

"Have you thought about adopting?" I asked.

"It wouldn't be the same, I think. I don't think adoption would ever completely fill the longing for a child."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but you don't need to feel that way here. I'm sure it's not the same, but Jordan and Emma have the best aunts in the world with you, Alice and Tanya. I don't want you to feel envious of us. I want you to know that they are so lucky to have such a large family and that you get to be a part of it."

Rosalie turned to look at me with a smile on her face. "You really think that?"

"Yes. I really do. And I know that Emmett will be the uncle that teaches them bad things like how to stick their tounge out at Alec and I or how to get things out of the fridge when they aren't supposed to." I laughed. "You and Alice and Tanya will teach Emma how to be such the fashionista, Emmett will teach Jordan how to throw a football and Jasper will tell them how all of their history books are wrong when it comes to the Civil War. Edward will teach them how to play the piano and Carlisle will be there when they get the cold and Esme will have a plate of chocolate chip cookies waiting for them when we visit. They couldn't have any better family than this one."

Rosalie wrapped me in a tight hug. "I never meant to be this way. I was ok on the way, but after I saw Emmett with them, all of the emotions came back that I had been trying to bury on the way here. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Let's go back to the house."


	38. Chapter 38

**Bella POV- January**

The kids were now 5 and a half months old and they were growing so fast. I couldn't believe it when I would notice that they were just a little taller or starting to do more things. I was amazed and so was Alec. We were proud to call Emma and Jordan our kids.

Alec and I both had this Saturday off. That gave us time to spend together as a family, which we always did, going out when we could, or just hanging around the house playing with the kids when it was too sunny to be out in public. It had been a while since I could get out of the house to do any shopping that didn't involve getting a diaper bag ready or pushing a stroller around. Really the only time I shopped alone anymore was to the store for formula or diapers. I wanted to ask Alec if he would be ok with the kids for a few hours while I did some shopping on my own, with something planned in my head.

"Alec, would you be ok with the kids for a few hours today? I really want to do some actual shopping today. Alone. If you're ok with them by yourself."

"Yeah. That's fine. You need to get out. It's been so long since you have been."

"Thank you." I leaned forward, closing the short distance between us with a peck on the lips. I got up to get a shower. I changed and put on a little bit of make-up and some jewlry. I grabbed my cars keys and headed out the door to go to the large Barnes and Noble in the mall.

Instead of looking for books in the store, I decided I needed to do something first. I sat at one of the circular tables in a corner and pulled out a pen and paper of my purse. I had been thinking about this for a while. Since the kids came home, really. I knew that I shouldn't do this, but I felt like I had to give Charlie at least a little it of knowledge that I was alive and well. I sat at the table, staring at the piece of paper not knowing what to write or how to begin. Finally, I just began writing. Though my coordination had imroved a lot since becoming a vampire, my handwriting only improved a fraction.

After I did that, I went shopping at the mall and dropped the letter off at the post office. I was very careful not to give any specific details of my whereabouts.

**Charlie POV**

I had just gotten home from another long day of work. There never seemed to be a short day since Bella hd gone missing over a year ago. That was the hardest thing I've ever gone through. Phil and Renee moved back up here when they found out to help in the searching for her. After a year had passed, though, they moved back to Arizona because Phil needed to get back to work.

I grabbed the mail out of the mailbox, sifting through to see if there was anything important. Bill, bill, bill. Oh, wait. What's this? I pulled an envelope from the stack. It was adressed to me in a script that reminded me of Bella's, though it was a little bit too fancy to be hers.

I opened it and found a piece of paper and a smaller envelope with something thick inside of it. I pulled out the paper first.

_Dear Charlie, _

_It's me, Bella. Yes, I am alive and well. I am terribly sorry that I walked out without a proper good-bye and have held no contact for over a year. But you must understand that it was necessary so that you couldn't try to stop me. I had to go. Italy, that's where I went. I had to get away from Forks. So I went to Italy where I knew Carlisle had a friend, Aro. Aro and his family took me in right away and with open arms._

_I was introduced with Aro's son, Alec. I have loved him ever since. I guess you could call it love at first sight. Yes, I know it may seem strange to live with some family you just met, then fall in love with a member, but Alec is such an amazing man. You, I am most sure, would approve. We got married in June, just six months ago. I only wish that you and Renee could have attended. We got married young. Still just 18. Yes. I know Renee would cringe at that._

_And, after many failed attempts to get pregnant, we decided that our only option was to adopt. Jordan Charles and Emma Jane are the twins that we adopted when they were only 7 weeks old. They have been such an amazing addition to the whole family. I have sent a few wedding and family photos along with this letter in a separate envelope._

_I must warn you however, I have changed a lot. You may notice that I am much paler now, much like the Cullen's. There are also some other changes that I wish not to tell you for a few reasons. One, to protect you. And two, to protect my family. I cannot tell you the reasons for such changes._

_In regards to the Cullen's, shortly after arriving in Italy, I gained contact with them. My past relationships with them were gained back. Edward has also found love and so we do not reflect back on our former love life. We have simply become friends, although he is unhappy with some of my decisions._

_Charlie, I cannot say that everyday has been easy. Not at all. Of course I have my days where all I want to do is cry. But those days have become less in the past year. Partly because I have simply no time to be worrying about myself with the kids and work and such. But also because, like I said, life is great here. I have a loving husband, two wonderful kids and a family that loves me. Of course I know that both of you loved me, but I had to leave because I knew that you couldn't stand to see me so depressed and unhappy anymore._

_I cannot even try to make myself regret any of my decisions. I wouldn't have the life that I have now. Of course, I would still be in Forks living my old life, but it would hurt too much. All of my pain was gone when I arrived in Italy. Jake and the guys could only stitch the hole up so much. Charlie, I love you and I hope that one day we can see each other again. Just not right now. I have too much going on right now, but you can stop searching for me if you are. _

_Love, Bella_

Bella's alive. She isn't missing. I was happy. i felt a few tears run down my face and land on the paper as I read the letter. There was nothing wrong with her. I pulled out the smaller envelope to find the pictures that she had mentioned. I braced myself for the changes that she had mentioned, that she couldn't tell me the reasons for.

The first picture I saw was of four people. Two adults smiling happily, each holding a baby. The girl I recognized as Bella. She wsa different. Her skin was pale, much like the Cullens as she said. Her chocolate brwon eyes were now a golden color. I was shocked at these differences. I looked to the boys to see that he had the same pale skin and golden eyes. This must be Alec, I thought.

Bella held a little girl in a frilly dress with a red bow in her hair. This must be Emma. Her eyes were the same chocolate color that Bella had. Alec was holding a little boy that looked almost exactly like Emma and I knew this had to be Jordan. As I looked closer to what they were all wearing and what was in the background, I could see a large Christmas tree.

I flipped throught the rest of the pictures. There were a few of the kids. I saw a picture of Alec and Bella at their wedding. Bella looked beautiful and I wished that I could have been there to walk her down the aisle.

I called the station telling them that the search was off. I knew where Bella was- at least what country she was in. Renee was more than happy when I called her, though she wondered why Bella didn't want to come home. I tried to calm her by saying, "Bella is a very smart kid. I'm sure she's happy with her life and she will come home when she wants to."

Billy and Jake were happy too. Jake didn't seem that surprised though and I wondered if it was just because he knew Bella probably better than I did and he thought that she was happy with her life.

I fell asleep immediatly that night, something I hadn't done in months. I could stop worrying about where she was or what she was doing. Most of all, I could stop worrying about if she was dead or not. That brought great peace to me.


	39. Chapter 39

**Bella POV- May- 3 years later**

"Mommy, Jordan is being a meany and he keeps taking my crayons." Emma said from the living room.

"Emma," I said sternly. "What have I told you about that word?"

"Oops. Sorry."

"Jordan, stop taking her crayons. You have your own. Now put this stuff away and come eat lunch."

They quickly cleaned up and ran into the dining room. I set their plates in front of them, chicken nuggets and green beans. Emma grimaced.

"I don't like green beans."

"You have to eat them."

She stabbed them with her fork and made a face when she put them in her mouth. "Do I have to eat _all _of them?"

"Yes."

Alec came home a few minutes later, mail in his hand looking closely at a paper. "Bella, can I talk to you for a second?"

I followed him across the hall into the living room.

"Read this." he handed me the paper he had been reading.

I read it. It was from an elementary school a few miles away, more in the country where more upper class families lived, including Chelsea and Afton. It was a private school. High education, high price. You had to be invited to the school to be able to attend.

"The school wants Emma and Jordan to attend next year?" I asked.

"Yeah. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Why? Let them go. It's the best education they can get around this area."

"Bella, slight problem with them going to school. The secret."

"Oh. They know better than to say anything."

"They're only four. They can't really watch what they say all the time. One small slip can cause total chaos."

"Ariana goes there." I tried to prove a point that they could go to school without telling the secret.

"Ariana was eight before she went there. She was home schooled before so that she would be older and smarter not to say anything."

"Daddy." came Emma's voice.

"We'll talk about this later." he said and went to see what she wanted. "Hi, Jordan. What do you want, Em?"

"Do I have to eat these?"

I watched the exchange from the entrance of the dining room. She pushed her green beans around the plate with her fork.

"What did mommy say?"

"She said I have to eat all of them, but I don't like these. They're yucky." she made the disgusted face again.

"If mommy said that you have to eat them, then daddy says that, too."

"But I might chock." she said with a serious face. The mind of a three-year-old.

"That's why you need to chew your food up good. Eat your vegetables."

The kids finished eating and got their baths. After asking if they could stay up late, they watched a movie, in which both kids fell asleep on the couch. Alec and I carried them into their rooms, gave them a kiss goodnight and continued our earlier discussion in the kitchen while we cleaned up dinner.

"It's going to be a class of five year olds. They won't believe anything that they say."

"And the teachers? Bella, they teach the kids about St. Marcus Day. It's part of the city's history. You don't think teachers and other staff would be suspicious of vampires if they are teaching the kids about what the holiday is? It's an Italian holiday. They get out of school for it. There are bound to be people who believe that we exist. One little thing that the twins say and it could be a very bad thing."

I thought about what he said for a minute as I washed the plate in my hand. I hadn't thought about that.

It was true. People knew what St. Marcus Day was about and it was a national holiday in Italy. A festive was held in the city by the clock tower, located at one of the entrances to the castle. The school would teach the kids about the day leading up to it and then they would have school off the day of. People believed that vampires had been expelled from the city and people were sure to suspect things if they heard that we were vampires. I could see his point now that he mentioned it.

"I see your point. I guess we'll have to wait a few years once they are older and are more conscious of what they are saying."

"Bella, please don't think that I don't want the best for them. It's for our safety. It's for their safety."

"I know." I said and looked at the clock. It was almost time for me to leave. "I have to get ready to go."

I walked into the bathroom to get a shower. I picked out some clothes and shoes and put them on. I said goodbye to Alec and left.

Guard went by normally. Aro had a few old friends visit, but nothing else out of the ordinary happened. Afton and Chelsea were on a vacation, so Ariana was hanging out at the castle for a few days with the rest of the guard.

The kids were eating breakfast when I got home. I said hi to them and went to change into jeans and a t-shirt. We were planning on going to the zoo today since Alec and I were both off. However, it was very sunny today.

"Have you looked outside today?" I asked Alec in a tone low enough that the kids couldn't hear.

"Yeah. What are we going to do then? You know that they are expecting the zoo." he answered in the same tone.

"Stay home, I guess. We should invest in a pool." the thought came to me. Alec gave me a questioning look. "So they can do stuff when we can't go out."

He nodded. "Birthday is next month."

"Nu uh, Emma. The lions are the best. Nobody likes monkeys." this argument had been going on since I got home. Emma and Jordan were in a disagreement- not an unusual thing in this house- about what animal was the best at the zoo.

"I like monkeys." she replied in an angry voice.

"Emma, Jordan," I started to break the news to them. They both looked at me to continue. "You know how mommy and daddy's skin sparkle in the sunlight?"

They nodded and Emma said, "And it looks really pretty."

"Yes. It does look pretty, hu? We can't go to the zoo today because it's too sunny and mommy and daddy can't go out when it's sunny."

"But you go outside with us when it's sunny sometimes." Jordan pouted.

"When we're at home or at the castle it's fine, or when we visit Carlisle's family. But we can't go to the zoo because other people will know that we aren't like them. So we have to stay home today."

"But what are we going to do, mommy?"

"You guys can play outside, or color, or watch a movie, or play with your toys inside. You can do whatever you want, but we cannot go to the zoo. Maybe another time. Or maybe Gianna can take you sometime."

"Really?"

"I bet she would if you two were really good and asked really nicely."

"Can we ask her now?" Emma beamed.

"No," I laughed. "She's working today."

"Oh," she looked down at her cereal.

They were in and out of the house all day. Going from the playground in the backyard to their rooms to the playroom. Alec and I discussed the pool idea further when they weren't in the room.

After dinner and bed, Alec and I were talking in the living room about various things.

"They're going to be four in a few weeks. It seems like we were just bringing them home yesterday." I said quietly.

"I know. And now they are running around the house all the time and talking back and trying to get out of eating their vegetables." he laughed.

"Just Emma." Jordan ate just about anything you put in front of him while Emma was more picky.

"And Jordan is just as stubborn as you."

"He just knows what he wants."

"Yes. Just like you." he kissed the top of my head.

I was happy. Alec and I had been married happily for almost four years. The twins were happy and healthy. I had a great family with the Volturi. The Cullens and I were great friends again. Jake, Quil, Seth, Embry and I were still keeping in contact, though with restrictions because nobody knew that they knew where I was exactly. But they came to visit a few times or I would visit them somewhere out of state. Charlie and Renee knew that I was alive and safe and happy. Jake said that the search for me was off and that Charlie was much happier since I left and wasn't so stressed anymore. Though, he'd said that Renee still wondered why I didn't want to come home anytime soon. Yes, I was very happy with life. And I still had an eternity to go.

**A/N: That was the last chapter. It's over, which is kind of sad in a way, but I can now focus on other stories coming up. School is starting up soon and I don't know exactly how much time I will have to write, so it may be a while for me to get anything new up.**

**Thank you to all my reviewers for this story for their words and telling me what they would like to see in the story. You guys definitely helped me along the way with the writers' block and helping to shape the story. Thank you and love you!**


	40. Chapter 40

I came up with an idea and I want to test this idea out. I have made a Facebook page for my Fanfiction stories. If you are on Facebook, you are welcome to "Like" the page. Pictures for the stories are posted in albums according to story and chapter (Ex. Forever and After: Chapter 1). You'll also be able to see any updates and announcements on there. I'm still trying to get it completely set up, but you're all welcome to "Like" it. Comments, posts, etc. are welcome. I only ask that they are relevant to Fanfiction.


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